2023 draft will put Steelers Omar Khan directly in the spotlight

The 2023 draft will be challenging for Steelers Omar Khan. Here’s how he can prove himself in his first season as general manager. 

Make no mistake, the 2023 NFL draft will be challenging for the Steelers Omar Khan as it will place him squarely in the spotlight. Not that he will have the final say in each round, but I think it will be interesting to see how he and Mike Tomlin handle the draft process and draft day.

When I say that the draft will be challenging for Khan, I don’t think the draft itself will be overwhelming as he has been with the organization since 2001 and had worked closely with his predecessor, Kevin Colbert.  I also believe his football acumen is ‘up to snuff’, otherwise he would not be our GM.

I think what will be challenging is navigating all the nuances and minutiae associated with being a new GM who will be partnering with a veteran head coach and who will have to work with not only the scouting department but with the coaching staff, all of whom will undoubtedly have an opinion about which player to take in each round.

The Steelers will potentially have significant holes to fill in 2023

Fortunately, or unfortunately for Khan, I guess it depends on your perspective, there may be significant holes to fill in 2023.  What is fortunate is the fact that by trading Chase Claypool, the Steelers will have an additional second-round pick.  I personally did not like the trade, but I do like the pick we got in return.

Having a first-round pick and two second-round picks is a huge boon for Khan, but only if we ‘hit’ on each player we select in the first two rounds.  To take it a step further and to place a little more pressure on Khan and the rest of the front office, we really need to have a near-perfect draft.

What the Steelers decide to do with our own pending free agents will have a direct impact on whom we draft and in what round we draft them.  For example, Larry Ogunjobi is playing on a one-year deal.  He is playing very well, so well, in my opinion, that we may not be able to re-sign him even if we wanted to.

If we can’t resign him, that would almost force us to draft a defensive lineman in the first three rounds.  Would Khan and company be so bold as to draft a D-lineman in the first round and thus bypass other players whom we would potentially need in the process?

Another position we may need to fill via the draft is middle linebacker (ILB).  Devin Bush will also become a free agent in 2023 after the Steelers declined to pick up his fifth-year option. Because our defense relies heavily on both the inside and outside linebackers, we may have to draft a replacement.

The Steelers Omar Khan can set the tone with a great 2023 draft

As I stated earlier, we really need to have a near perfect draft in order to replenish our ranks, so to speak.  The reason I use the term ‘near perfect’ is this:  A new GM has to set the tone early in their tenure. If we draft well, meaning we draft four or five players who make an immediate impact, that would be considered, by me at least, to have been a near perfect draft.

Conversely, if we draft solely for need, which we have done in previous drafts, that may set us back even further than where we are right now.  Personally, drafting the best player available has generally worked out well for us.  Keep in mind, the Steelers drafted four Hall of Fame players in a single draft.

Let’s play out this scenario:  There is a top-flight O-lineman, D-lineman, linebacker, and cornerback in the first round.  Who do Khan, the front office, and Tomlin have a first-round grade on?  If the answer is “all of them”, then the question becomes whom do the Steelers select?

This is where Khan will be tested.  Look, I realize that the draft has always been a collaborative effort and that’s great when you ‘hit’ on your high-round draft picks.  When you don’t, the criticism begins and the GM is generally the focus of that criticism.

The Steelers 2023 draft may become a test of wills

Let’s return to the above-mentioned scenario.  Considering we may need all four of the O-line, D-line, linebacker, and cornerback, who are we taking in the first round? What if Khan thinks we should take an O-lineman, Tomlin thinks we should take a D-lineman but the scouting department thinks we should go linebacker or corner, who are we drafting?

In other words, whose will or influence will rise to the surface and will be the final say in whom we draft? That is the reason I say that the 2023 NFL draft will place Khan directly in the spotlight.  I guess we will find out soon enough the direction in which Khan wants to go and how he feels about being in the spotlight.