We've reached that time of year. With the 2024 NFL Draft just around the corner, it's time to unveil the Pittsburgh Steelers interest tracker this year.
Last offseason was my first time comprising my Steelers visit tracker. I created an easy-to-read graphic that tracks Pittsburgh's interest in draft prospects who could be selected on the first two days of the NFL Draft.
This Steelers interest tracker uses the data collected from our pre-draft visit tracker since the beginning of the offseason. After compiling a list of players Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan have met with at the NFL Combine, Pro Days, and Top 30 visit, I plugged this data into a graphic.
Here are the players who check the most boxes for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Final #Steelers pre-draft interest tracker:#SteelersDraft #NFLDraft2024 #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/NP9qjfnyfp
— Tommy Jaggi (@TommyJaggi) April 20, 2024
It's interesting to note that only two players -- Georgia OT Amarius Mims and Nate Wiggins -- were the only prospects who check all three boxes when it comes to Combine meetings, Pro Day meetings, and Top 30 visits with the Steelers this year.
Last year three players checked these boxes, and the Steelers ultimately drafted two of them with their first two selections in the 2023 draft (Broderick Jones and Joey Porter Jr.).
Players received a double-checked box if they were recorded as having a Pro Day dinner meeting with Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan. This has been an excellent indicator of the team's interests in the past.
It's also worth noting that the Pro Day box is checked for every player that Tomlin and Khan were in attendance for. This year, those included just four Pro Days: Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, and Clemson. This doesn't mean that Tomlin and Khan are interested in every draft-eligible player from these schools, but this is a box we can check off.
Based on historical data since the beginning of Mike Tomlin's tenure as head coach in 2007, the best pre-draft indicator of who will be the first-round selection of the Pittsburgh Steelers is Pro Day meetings. However, beyond the first round of the draft, the Top 30 visits seem to be more important.
Who are the Steelers likely to target early in the 2024 NFL Draft?
After carefully examining the data and considering historical draft trends, Amarius Mims seems to be the candidate highest on the first-round radar for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL Draft. He checks all of the same boxes that Broderick Jones did last year, but Mims was also reported to have a dinner meeting with Tomlin and Colbert.
The Steelers interest tracker would suggest that Nate Wiggins is next in line. While Wiggins checks all three boxes in terms of pre-draft meetings and visits, he comes at a position that isn't quite as high on Pittsburgh's draft radar. However, the data shows that we cannot rule him out as a viable option in Round 1.
Other candidates the Steelers could target in the first round are those who check two of the three visit boxes. This includes players like Graham Barton, JC Latham, Taliese Fuaga, Terrion Arnold, and Cooper DeJean. Keep in mind that none of these players are guaranteed to be on the board when Pittsburgh is selected in the first round.
We can also get a good sense of who the Steelers could target on Day 2 of the NFL Draft. The second and third-round candidates Pittsburgh's brass met with twice during the pre-draft process include players like WR Ricky Pearsall, DL Braden Fiske, CB Mike Sainristil, DL Ruke Orhorhoro, C Sedrick Van Pran-Granger, and OT Blake Fisher.
When looking at the potential Day 2 prospects for the Steelers, the Top 30 pre-draft visits are weighted more heavily. This means that, even if Tomlin and Khan didn't meet with a prospect at the Combine or their Pro Day, they are still very much a possibility. Day 2 players who check the 30-visit box include WR Xavier Legette, WR Malachi Corley, DL Darius Robinson, LB Payton Wilson, CB Max Melton, CB Andru Phillips, DL Maason Smith, OL Mason McCormick, and QB Michael Penix Jr.
Last year, my Steelers interest tracker proved to be very accurate as to the direction Pittsburgh went early in the 2023 draft as Tomlin and Khan selected four players who were high on the tracker. We could see something similar during the 2024 NFL Draft.