One of the biggest worries I have every year when it comes to the NFL Draft is whether or not the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to narrow in on a specific positional group and pigeonhole themselves into taking a certain position in round one. This is probably a fear that many fans have, and it certainly seems to be justified.
In years past, the Steelers reached on Artie Burns when they needed a cornerback, traded up for Devin Bush when they needed a linebacker, and took Najee Harris in the first round (against our better judgment) when they needed a running back.
In each of these seasons, Pittsburgh's visits reflected their interest in these specific positional groups. While that trend isn't guaranteed to continue, it seems likely to do so with understudy Omar Khan taking over as GM for Kevin Colbert and with Mike Tomlin still having a big hand in the pre-draft process.
If that trend does continue, the Steelers could already be narrowing in on two different positional groups after the 2023 NFL Combine.
Steelers met with more OL than any positional group at the Combine
This is pretty broad, as the offensive line consists of tackles, guards, and centers. However, the number of visits is certainly telling. According to Alex Kozora of Steelers Depot, the Steelers either had informal or formal meetings with 21 offensive linemen in Indianapolis.
Just six of these meetings were deemed 'formal', but they included meetings with top prospects like OT Paris Johnson Jr., OT Broderick Jones, and OT Peter Skoronski. Pittsburgh also met with some projected mid-round offensive linemen, including USC's Andrew Vorhees who unfortunately suffered an ACL tear during drills.
While the Steelers met with many top prospects from a number of positions, the fact that they met with the top-three offensive lineman this year in addition to informal visits with many others shows that they have an interest in addressing the offensive line. It looks like that could come as early as the 17th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Steelers met with top CB prospects
Perhaps even more compelling than the offensive line is the confirmed visits the Pittsburgh Steelers had with the cornerbacks at the NFL Combine this year. Where the OL has a combined 6 formal visits, Pittsburgh's brass has 7 confirmed cornerback visits alone (11 total combined formal and informal meetings).
These formal meetings include visits with first-round prospects Joey Porter Jr., Deonte Banks, and Cam Smith. The Steelers also met with a number of early-round prospects like Emmanuel Forbes, Kelee Ringo, Jaylon Jones, and Clark Philips.
Interestingly though, we don't have confirmation that Pittsburgh ever met with top CB prospects Christian Gonzalez or Devon Witherspoon. This may be due to how high they are projected to go in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Will history repeat itself?
On the scouting trail last year, the Steelers made it a point to visit each of the top quarterback prospects on their scouting trail before ultimately selecting QB Kenny Pickett with the 20th overall pick. Earning a Combine visit is just the tip of the iceberg. Now we will really see how much interest they have in these players and positions in the coming weeks.
Though assistant GM Andy Weidl is responsible for creating the draft board, I have a feeling that Tomlin will want to remain heavily involved, and I don't think that much will change when it comes to hitting the road to visit their favorite prospects.
If this proves to be the case, we will soon have a very good idea of which positions and players will be in contention for the 17th overall pick this year. I have a feeling we are going to see plenty of offensive line and cornerback Pro Day and in-house visits during the pre-draft process.