Pro Football Focus recently released an article on their biggest steals from every round of the NFL Draft, and Jack Sawyer was not among them. When the Pittsburgh Steelers turned in their card for Sawyer with the No. 123 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, fans were stunned to see that he was still on the board.
But PFF doesn't feel the same way.
When PFF's team broke down their biggest Day 3 steals of the draft, five names made the cut: quarterback Shedeur Sanders, running back Cam Skattebo, edge rusher Bradyn Swinson, linebacker Chris Paul Jr., and offensive tackle Cameron Williams. Sawyer, a Big Ten champion and Ohio State team captain, wasn't mentioned.
While I don't disagree with the draft steals mentioned by PFF, the value the Steelers found in Jack Sawyer isn't being talked about enough. The well-rounded edge rusher was the 75th overall player on Marcus Mosher's NFL Draft Expert Consensus Board, so taking him at pick No. 123 is a monumental value.
Sawyer finished among the college football leaders in pressures last season (64) while putting up impressive numbers over his final two seasons with the Buckeyes. Since 2023, Sawyer has collected 107 total tackles, 19 tackles for a loss, 15.5 sacks, five forced fumbles, and a defensive touchdown. Perhaps most importantly, Sawyer showed up big when it mattered the most.
The Athletic's Dane Brugler gave Sawyer a second-round grade on The Beast draft guide ahead of the NFL Draft, so landing him in the middle of the fourth round was a steal, regardless of what Pro Football Focus had to say.
Still, there are some Steelers fans who would argue that Sawyer doesn't fill a big positional need and that the front office should have gone in another direction with this selection, but it's important to look at the bigger picture. Most fans understand the heist this team just pulled off.
The Pittsburgh Steelers took the right approach with the Jack Sawyer pick in the 2025 NFL Draft
The Jack Sawyer was a consensus board pick if we've ever seen one. One of the only players higher on the board at pick No. 123 when the Pittsburgh Steelers were on the clock was Shedeur Sanders, who saw perhaps the biggest surprise slide in the draft we've ever seen.
With their fourth-round pick, the Steelers could have gone with a player who filled a positional need, but they would have taken a lesser prospect. Instead, they opted for Sawyer, who will begin his career as an edge rusher behind T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, and Nick Herbig.
But that's okay. This wasn't a play for the 2025 season, it was move for the future.
Not only should we give Omar Khan a virtual pat on the back for finding value on Day 3 with Sawyer, we should applaud him for setting aside the temptation to draft for positional need in order to take the best talent with how the board fell.
Going into the draft, we knew that defensive line, running back, and edge rusher were the top three positions in the class in terms of talent up front and overall depth. So what did the Steelers do with their first three picks? They took defensive line, running back, and edge rusher.
Not everyone is a fan of Jack Sawyer's game. He's an upright rusher with some stiffness to his game and lacks elite athletic traits. However, he's also a really good football player who has the frame, power, and intangibles to develop into an NFL starter. This is well worth taking in the fourth round, even if Pro Football Focus didn't put him on the list of biggest NFL Draft steals.