Who will be the best available edge defenders for the Steelers at pick 49?

The Steelers could be in the market for Bud Dupree’s long-term replacement with their first pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Here are the edge defenders who could still be there at pick 49.

Without a first-round pick and with no Pro Day’s to track, it’s hard to get a good feel of which direction the Steelers will look to go with the 49th overall pick this year.  It’s certainly possible that Pittsburgh could look to bolster their offensive line or add a Javon Hargrave replacement on defense. However, edge defender is something they will certainly consider.

The Steelers placed the franchise tag on Bud Dupree this offseason, but his future beyond 2020 is up in the air. If Dupree or T.J. Watt were to get injured for any length of time, Pittsburgh has razor-thin depth at the position. Pittsburgh is rumored to be interested in a handful of early-round edge defenders in 2020.

Players like Chase Young, K’Lavon Chaisson, and Yetur Gross-Matos, and Zack Baun will likely be long gone. Let’s take a look at the players who could be available to them in the second round:

Julian Okwara

Julian Okwara is a long, bendy, and talented edge rusher from Notre Dame. Though he earned just 7.0 tackles for a loss in 9 games last season, he constantly flashes on the field with his speed and dip when rushing the passer.

Okwara has a prototype size profile for an edge defender in Pittsburgh. At 6’4” and 252 pounds, he is the exact same height and weight as T.J. Watt coming out of Wisconsin in 2017, but his remarkable 34 3/8” arms are even longer than Watt’s. Though he didn’t do any testing at the Combine, his film shows a plus athlete with a high-ceiling as an NFL pass rusher.

Josh Uche

Josh Uche is another pass rusher who is pretty high on my list. At 6’1” and 254 pounds, Uche doesn’t have the ideal frame like Okwara. However, he has an elite burst off the edge and the ability to dip past offensive tackles with ease.

Uche isn’t stout against the run and can sometimes be a liability in this area. But his ability to provide quick and consistent pressure against the quarterback is something the Steelers will covet. He could be an excellent speed rusher in the NFL.

Curtis Weaver

This is a guy who is a little hard to evaluate. Weaver is on the shorter side at 6’2” but weighs 265 pounds (and doesn’t carry his weight very well, I might add). Weaver isn’t as fast off the ball as Okwara or Uche, but he makes up for it with a better blend of pass rush moves and power.

Weaver didn’t run the 40 at the Combine, but he tested above average in his agility drills. He is a guy the Steelers met with, and could be an option in play in round two.

Terrell Lewis

This is your typical ‘boom or bust’ prospect. Lewis is chiseled from stone with a physique that makes you want to draft him in round one. At 6’5” and 262 pounds with nearly 34” arms, Lewis has ideal measurables for the position. He also showed excellent explosion with a 37” vertical and 124” broad jump at the Combine.

Lewis, however, has such a small body of work that it’s hard to get too excited about him. Major injuries have plagued his college career. As a result, Lewis missed the entire 2016 and 2018 seasons, and played just 14 games over 4 years. All the upside is there, but it comes at a risk.

There are other names out there like Alex Highsmith, Bradlee Anae, and Jonathan Greenard, but there are the four I believe the Steelers will have the most interest in when pick 49 rolls around. Don’t be surprised if they pull the trigger on one of these edge defenders later this month.