This is an interesting development. Before the start of the week, the Pittsburgh Steelers either met with or had scheduled pre-draft meetings with 32 total players. Two of these were local visits, meaning that all 30 of their pre-draft visits were scheduled to be used up.
On Monday, just ten days before the kickoff of the 2023 NFL Draft, we learned that two more players were in the facility for pre-draft visits. Brooke Pryor of ESPN confirmed that Georgia OT Broderick Jones and Clemson DT Bryan Bresee were both in Pittsburgh to meet with coaches and executives.
Steelers brought in a couple first-round linemen today for pre-draft visits: Georgia OL Broderick Jones and Clemson DL Brian Bresee.
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) April 17, 2023
Obviously, the Steelers have expressed plenty of interest in these two players throughout the pre-draft process, and as if they weren't before, both are squarely on the map as potential first-round prospects this year. However, what's interesting is how this unfolded.
Did Steelers cancel previously scheduled visits?
Because the Pittsburgh Steelers added two players to the pre-draft visit list after already knowing that 30 visits were either scheduled or confirmed, it either means that the front office canceled visits or players decided not to show up. Either way, there are some pretty interesting notes here.
Some of the players who had scheduled visits with the team but never showed up to this point included OT Dawand Jones, CB Emmanuel Forbes, CB Kelee Ringo, DL Gervon Dexter, and QB Clayton Tune.
Dawand Jones is particularly interesting. With a big need at offensive tackle and the interest the team has expressed in Jones during the pre-draft process, it does make you wonder if the Steelers changed their mind about him. Pittsburgh was rumored to be disappointed with Jones during his pro day as he showed up even heavier than he was at the NFL Combine and elected not to go through drills.
Of course, this is just speculation at this point. But by doing some simple math and using the data we have, we do know that two scheduled pre-draft visits fell through somehow. Perhaps the team decided that it was more important to get one final long look at players like Broderick Jones and Bryan Bresee as serious candidates with the 17th overall pick.
If this wasn't the case, I would love to know what happened and who is responsible for backing out of the scheduled pre-draft visits. Perhaps we will have that information soon. For now, we can certainly assume that Jones and Bresee are strong candidates in the first round after they each checked the boxes for Combine visits, pre-draft visits, and Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan showing up at their pro days.