Steelers mock draft: Steven Nelson throws a curveball in Pittsburgh’s plans

Steelers mock draft round 3: OT Spencer Brown

I know many fans (myself included) are hoping that the Steelers will address the offensive tackle position earlier than the third round – especially considering that this is one of the deeper groups we have seen in quite some time. However, if the chips fall this way in the draft, it’s entirely possible that Pittsburgh misses out on the first few waves of tackles this year.

Spencer Brown is a solid, but unspectacular football player. He had an impressive showing during Senior Bowl week while he won most of his one-on-one reps. However, there is much more to playing the offensive tackle position than blocking the guy trying to get to the quarterback in front of you. Brown had a pretty good career at Northern Iowa, and his size is particularly intriguing (6’8” and 314 pounds).

The Steelers already lost former guard/tackle Matt Feiler, and outside of re-signing Zach Banner, they haven’t done much in the way of fixing the depth issue at offensive tackle. Brown is a player who could come in and compete on the right side of the formation with either Banner or Chukwuma Okorafor. He projects as an eventual starter at right tackle, but probably doesn’t have the feet and desired athleticism to play left tackle in the NFL.