Steelers may have eliminated these players from their draft short list

If you follow any of the 2022 mock drafts, you undoubtedly have seen a variety of names at different positions listed for the Steelers 20th selection.

Some of the more prominent names you may have seen in mock drafts falling to the 20th selection would be Charles Cross OT Mississippi State, Kenny Pickett QB Pitt, Kenyon Green OT Texas A&M, but this is far from an exhaustive list of potential draft prospects.

While people make these mock draft lists, many, if not most, are generally suspect, biased, or the person making it is uninformed. Perhaps Mel Kiper Jr’s mock draft may have some validity. If you follow Broshmo on Youtube, that’s a different issue.

However, based on the pro days not attended by Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin and General Manager Kevin Colbert, there are a few names you might be able to eliminate from draft consideration.

Potential draft picks eliminated from the Steelers shortlist

Many fans would like to see the Steelers draft an offensive lineman with their first selection. The draft has several talented offensive linemen this year. However, two of them will not fall to the 20th selection, Evan Neal and Ikem Ekwonu. Both should be off the board before the 7th selection unless one falls unexpectedly.

Of the remaining linemen that could fall to the 20th pick, here are the ones we can assume may have been eliminated as a potential draft pick since no one showed up at the pro day. Names that may not get mentioned with the 20th selection include Trevor Penning OT Northern Iowa,  Bernhard Raimann OT Central Michigan, Charles Cross OT Mississippi State, and Kenyon Green IOL Texas A&M.

If you were thinking of a wide receiver, you might want to reconsider that as well. There are as many as six potential wide receivers ranked high enough to go in the first round. However, we can potentially eliminate the following candidates as no Steelers representative attended their pro day. The list includes Treylon Burks Arkansas,  Garrett Wilson Ohio State, and Chris Olave Ohio State. Those eliminations still leave Jahan Dotson Penn State, Drake London USC, and Jameson William as potential if not improbable selections with the Steelers 20th pick.

Potential draft picks on the Steelers shortlist

The next question is if the Steelers eliminated those players, then who’s pro days did they attend?  Well, by the process of elimination, it’s not too hard to guess some of the players; they are, after all, the usual suspects you might expect. So far, the Steelers attended the pro day for Kenny Pickett Qb Pitt, Malik Willis QB Liberty, and Matt Corral QB Liberty. Then on March 24th, the Steelers had two choices attend Penn State’s pro day or see Desmond Ridder in Cincinnati. They chose the trip to Ohio.

The Steelers always attend Penn State’s pro day, so it’s rare they ever miss it, and it’s another telling move as to what the Steelers may do with their first draft pick this year. Now Sam Howell has a pro day on March 28th. We will see if they attend. The only quarterback snubbed so far was Carson Strong from Nevada.

Let’s be clear. Ignoring a pro day does not mean the Steelers are completely ignoring a player. Perhaps they saw what they needed at the NFL combine and feel a pro day is unnecessary. That said, if Tomlin and Colbert have not met with them, it’s unlikely the Steelers will draft them.

One would think if the Steelers were seriously considering Penning, Cross, or Green, they might have at least shown up to take a second look to make sure he’s the guy. Once you have eliminated the guys going in the top 10 and players they snubbed at pro days, it leaves you Tyler Linderbaum or perhaps Zion Johnson as players worthy of a 20th round selection.

Like it or not, Kevin Colbert said Pittsburgh would take four quarterbacks into camp; so far, they only have three. Thus if you look at the signs, including free agency,  they seemingly indicate the Steelers will take one of the quarterbacks with their first selection. Whether they take one they believe will fall to the 20th selection or trade-up, the odds indicate the Steelers will get a draft, someone, one as their ace in the hole, and for a quasi quarterback competition.