The Steelers may have been too focused on filling needs in the NFL Draft. Here are their four biggest reaches.
The Pittsburgh Steelers certainly had an agenda in the 2021 NFL Draft. For the first time since 1984, the organization took four straight offensive players to begin the NFL Draft. This may have had something to do with the Pittsburgh’s 32nd ranked rushing attack or the overall monumental collapse of the offense over the final six games and into the playoffs.
I don’t judge the Steelers motives for selecting players of need in the NFL Draft. However, when taking for need causes you to ignore significantly better players on the board – oftentimes at more important positions – that’s where I have an issue. All teams are guilty of this, and we will have to take a wait-and-see approach to observe whether or not this will work out for Pittsburgh, but here are the Steelers four biggest reaches of the 2021 NFL Draft:
4. OT Dan Moore Jr.
I really like Dan Moore, but to be honest, he went a little higher than I expected him to go. There’s no doubt that the Steelers needed an offensive tackle, and I’m somewhat surprised they waited this long to address the position. Kevin Colbert missed out on the first two tiers of offensive tackle talent, but I still had players like D’Ante Smith, Stone Forsythe, and Jaylon Moore ranked higher.
The Steelers are really putting a lot of faith in Chukwuma Okorafor and Zach Banner this year. Okorafor graded out as one of the worst tackles in the league last season, while Banner is coming off an ACL tear and has just two starts by the age of 27. Had they addressed this position a little sooner, perhaps they could have gotten a player who could step in and play at some point during his rookie season. I like Dan Moore, and he has great upside thanks to his impressive athletic traits. But even considering this, I think he was taken a round too early.