Steelers Mock Draft: Projecting rounds 1-3
He is the 47th ranked prospect by the DraftNetwork and a stud defensive tackle from Florida State named Marvin Wilson.
He may not be the flashiest pick. Yet he would be the largest bang for their buck at the 32nd draft pick. Tyson Alualu is 33 yrs old, and while he has been playing lights out he is in the last year of his contract. I don’t know if Pittsburgh will resign him considering his age and the amount of money he may still be able to command after such a statistically dominant season. With Alualu injured, it is clear to see how vital of a position it is within Keith Butler’s defense and Mike Tomlin is going to throw him a bone here.
Through 2019 and 2020 so far he has accumulated 30 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, and 6 sacks all in 15 games. He is 6’5 and 311 lbs. His height makes him a threat to bat down passes at the line of scrimmage, yet he is still an incredibly stout run defender. He isn’t the most explosive defensive tackle in the 2021 class, yet his hips are surprisingly fluid and he has a way of almost gliding around in the trenches. He isn’t going to have the best combine performance in terms of speed and burst and that will keep him within reach of Pittsburgh. He has an incredibly powerful frame and will be able to bully some interior offensive linemen as a rookie.
Florida State doesn’t have the talent they had when they were national contenders. He is one of two FSU defenders that will find themselves taken in the first 45 picks of the draft. Wilson could have been a 1st rounder in 2020 had he entered the draft, but he elected to stay another year and new head coach Mike Norvell has made the entire team look worse. Being on any team that is 1-5 so far in the season is going to hurt your draft stock, no matter how good of a player you really are. He would offer a cheap replacement to Alualu and help add some youth to an aging defensive line playing in between Cameron Heyward, who will turn 32 this offseason, and Stephon Tuitt, who will turn 28 this offseason.