Steelers mock draft: Pittsburgh addresses pressing needs with early picks

Steelers mock draft round 3: WR Parker Washington

With the current state of their offense and considering their lack of wide receiver depth, I would be somewhat surprised to see this team wait until day three of the 2023 NFL Draft to address the WR position. Instead, I have them doing so in round three. We have seen Mike Tomlin’s team address the receiver position often in this portion of the draft and there’s reason to believe they will do so again.

Right now, George Pickens looks like he’s going to be a beast on the outside, but the rest of this group is pretty shaky. The Steelers paid Diontae Johnson good money during the 2022 offseason, but he’s coming off a down year as he was one of the least efficient receivers in the league. The depth beyond these two players is pretty scary at the moment.

Penn State’s Parker Washington could help. While he’s not a highly-touted prospect at the moment, Washington is a versatile player who can play on both on the outside and in the slot. Though he’s listed at just 5’10”, Washington has a muscular 207-pound frame, and he uses it to his advantage with his physicality before and after the catch.

Washington projects as a WR3 at the next level, but that’s exactly what Pittsburgh needs right now. The Penn State product had decent college production and the team has probably gotten a pretty good look at him already. He could wear multiple hats on this offense as a rookie and provide a reliable set of hands for Kenny Pickett.