5 first round NFL Draft prospects Steelers are going to fall in love with

ILB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Notre Dame

Don’t be so quick to disregard defense as an option for the Steelers in the first round. Though there are clearly more needs on the offensive side of the ball, Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert have taken a defensive player in with their first-round draft choice in 7 consecutive drafts (8 if you count the trade for Minkah Fitzpatrick.) Of those picks, Pittsburgh used 5 of them on either inside or outside linebackers.

While it’s true that the offense needs more retooling, inside linebacker was a huge whole on Pittsburgh’s defense last year. Devin Bush will certainly help in this department when he returns from an ACL injury next season, but Keith Butler’s defense is never going to be effective until they get more inside linebackers that can cover. Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah does exactly that.

Though he only played two years of college football and had modest production, Owusu-Koramoah is an outstanding athlete with terrific film in 2020. Pairing him next to Devin Bush next season could take Pittsburgh’s defense to a whole new level and turn their biggest weakness on that side of the ball into one of their greatest strengths on the team.

Pittsburgh has a particular way of doing business, and I can almost assure you that scouts are going to have their eyes on these five players. It’s still unclear which position or even side of the ball the Steelers will choose to address at this point, but these guys fit the bill of what the team typically looks for in the first round.