3 far-too-early needs for Pittsburgh Steelers in 2022 NFL Draft

The Pittsburgh Steelers have some big needs on the horizon. Here’s a look ahead at what they could be targeting in the 2022 NFL Draft.

The Steelers did a good job beefing up their offense with nine selections in the 2021 NFL Draft, but there are still several positions that fans believe they haven’t done enough to improve this year. After losing some prominent players like Bud Dupree, Steven Nelson, Mike Hilton, and Alejandro Villanueva this offseason, many fans were hoping they would do more to address these positions this offseason.

While Pittsburgh could still elect to add a few discount players prior to training camp this year, they have some serious question marks on the horizon at very important positions. Here are three far-too-early draft needs for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Offensive tackle

I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but I think the Steelers missed out on some very good talent at offensive tackle in the 2021 NFL Draft. Most of the time, tackles fly off the board early, but this group was unusually deep. Pittsburgh could have had a legitimate left tackle prospect in Christian Darrisaw had they been willing to move up just one spot, and they passed on Oklahoma State’s Teven Jenkins.

With Villanueva gone, the Steelers are banking on two very unproven players in Chukwuma Okorafor and Zach Banner as their offensive tackles in 2021. Okorafor really struggled last season and will likely endure a position change to left tackle, while Banner is coming off an ACL tear and has just 2 starts by the age of 27. Something tells me that this is still a position they are going to want to improve in the 2022 NFL Draft.