Steelers mock draft: Pittsburgh takes a predictable route in first round

Steelers mock draft round 4: EDGE Zach Harrison

Pittsburgh’s lack of depth at edge defender really hurt them in 2022. Last year, the team mishandled the Melvin Ingram situation, but their depth was good before he forced his way out the door before the trade deadline. This year, they went into the season with essentially zero reliable depth, and it showed.

When T.J. Watt went down for the first half of the year with a pectoral injury, Pittsburgh couldn’t get any type of consistent pressure on the quarterback. Backup Malik Reed proved to be a disappointment despite decent sack numbers during his time in Denver, and Jamir Jones is strictly a special teams player.

After making Watt the highest-paid defender in the league, the team needs to invest in a better insurance policy for him. We also don’t know at this point in time if Pittsburgh will be able to retain Alex Highsmith long-term or not.

Zach Harrison fits the bill of a Steelers edge defender. Though his lack of sack production in college is concerning (10.5 sacks in 4 seasons), it’s the reason why Pittsburgh might be able to get an athletic pass rusher from a quality football program at this point in the draft. They can’t afford to wait any longer to address the position.