Steelers 2021 mock draft: Taking the best players available

Round 4 (comp.): CB Shaun Wade

Highlighted for his past, hopeful for his future, CB Shaun Wade fell into a significant setback as a prospect in 2020. Initially, the slot corner for the length of his career at Ohio State, once former teammates left, his time to slide outside came about and did not pan for the best.

Coming into the past season as one of the more famous names at CB, Wade could never find a flow from the jump. He often struggled when asked to play in man coverage, constantly opening his hips way too early, exposing him instantly off the snap.

Drafting Wade would be with the intent of returning him to where his instincts and aggressiveness could be on full display. Placed in the slot, unless a miraculous jump in ability occurs and a team is willing to put both parties at risk, his game as a player critiques better in zone coverage as well.

He’s a “head hunter” of a tackler that can create issues for an offense at the LOS or when sent on the blitz. Although 2020 will be a year for Wade not to hang his hat on as a football player, perhaps a homecoming to the slot could end up as a steal for whoever drafts him.

Available options:

EDGE Patrick Jones II, RB Kylin Hill, IOL David Moore, EDGE Adetokunbo Ogundeji

In the end, if not trying to stick within a criterion, the makeup of this group could have been different. OTs such as Samuel Cosmi & Brady Christensen were available in their respective rounds & sat right on the fringe on the second fourth-round pick as the 139th ranked prospect. Trying to create the “well, what if”  scenario of if particular favorites that have been mocked to the Steelers weren’t available & if the choice came strictly down to BPA. Indeed, Pittsburgh’s big board is unlikely to align with TDN’s, but an exercise posing different possible options.