3 pressing needs for Steelers in the upcoming 2022 NFL Draft

Steelers 3rd biggest need: Cornerback

The Steelers have had a lot of issues on defense this season, primarily when it comes to stopping the run. Much of those issues stem from injuries and lack of depth in the front seven, as well as poor play from the linebacker group overall. That being said, the cornerback position needs to be revamped in a big way. Joe Haden seems likely to hit free agency after five seasons in Pittsburgh, and Arthur Maulet and James Pierre haven’t shown enough to guarantee a role next year. Even Cam Sutton hasn’t played as well as he did last season.

With all the uncertainty in the secondary, Pittsburgh could look to attack other needs in free agency and go corner early in the draft, maybe even the first round. This draft is full of potential early impact starters including LSU’s Derek Stingley, Cincinnati’s Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner, Clemson’s Andrew Boothe, and Georgia’s Derion Kendrick.

All of them and others have a chance to have their name called in the first two days of the draft, but I think my favorite fit for the Steelers is Trent McDuffie from Washington. He reminds me a lot of Haden: both are smaller (5’11, 195) corners but are excellent tacklers and are perfect fits for the Steelers defensive scheme.

Regardless of whether it’s early or late in the draft, Pittsburgh should add at least one corner to compete with their current group. Keeping Akhello Witherspoon may make it less of a need, but even then more talent needs to be added to the secondary.

It seems likely that the Steelers will base their first pick on which position has a run of players taken ahead of them. If their top offensive line targets are off the board, then corner becomes their priority. Quarterback is still a possibility, but as I mentioned previously wouldn’t be ideal with this class.

Overall, this draft has plenty of players at key positions the Steelers need to address. With a substantial amount of cap space as well, this offseason is shaping up to be a wild one for Steelers fans.