Steelers mock draft round 6: Tony Poljan
The Steelers desperately need to address the tight end position as there is a concerning lack of depth behind Eric Ebron. Unfortunately, it’s not a strong tight end class, and they would be forced to use one of their top picks to secure a player that can help make a difference right away. Tony Poljan is a former quarterback and he played for both Central Michigan and Virginia – two schools Pittsburgh is familiar with. He could come in and compete with Zach Gentry and Kevin Radar in the pecking order at tight end.
Steelers mock draft round 7: Manny Rugamba
Pittsburgh has taken some small-school defensive backs in the past, and I have them doing the same with Miami of Ohio cornerback, Manny Rugamba. Rugamba is a physical cornerback who has experience both outside the hashes and in the slot. Though Pittsburgh was able to retain Cameron Sutton, they recently lost Mike Hilton in free agency to the Bengals. Rugamba could help fill his shoes or at least compete for one of the final roster spots in the secondary.
Steelers mock draft round 7: Paddy Fisher
Since Tyler Matakevich departed from the Steelers after the 2019 season, Pittsburgh has been in need of a core special teams ace at the linebacker position. As I predicted, Vince Williams recently got the boot to save cap space, and Avery Williamson is likely to sign elsewhere. Paddy Fisher will probably never develop into a starting-caliber football player due to his athletic limitations, but he could be a special teams standout that can provide some emergency depth at inside linebacker.
With free agency looming, it will be interesting to see if the Steelers are able to fill any of these needs before draft day. As of now, I have them addressing the running back position with their first pick and rolling the dice on a few small-school players this year.