Steelers blew a perfect chance to draft this stud in the second round

The Steelers entered round two of the draft with two picks. They stuck to their guns, not trading out of pick 32 or pick 49. Earlier, having made a case that the Steelers should trade up to get Cody Mauch, they did not. Just before the Steelers picked at 49, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took Cody Mauch off the draft board. As predicted, Cody Mauch did not stay on the draft board very long into round two. Thus they would have had to trade up to get him.

This is not a knock on their decision to stay at 49 and take Keeanu Benton. Benton filled a specific need for the Steelers. Cam Heyward is not getting younger and will probably retire when his contract ends. Thus Benton is a promising young player to be able to fill that void when Cam Heyward eventually makes that decision to retire.

Why it was disappointing the Steelers did not draft Cody Mauch

That said, the Steelers pick in round three of Darnell Washington shows they still had the offense on their mind and wanted to get blockers that could open the running game and protect Kenny Pickett. The fact the Steelers wanted to get additional bodies for the offensive line is why in some ways, not making a move for Mauch is a bit disappointing.

Cody Mauch is a big guy like Washington -- not as tall but certainly heavier and a very good blocker. Mauch would have given the Steelers versatility that Washington can not as Mauch, unlike Washington, can play anywhere on the offensive line, even tight end, if they needed him to. Thus as injuries occur, they could play him where needed.

They could even come up with gadget plays to utilize him in the passing game with the old tackle-eligible play. Hence, they could have gotten and achieved the same thing with Mauch as they did with Washington.

So drafting Mauch did not happen; the Steelers will miss out on a player that could have brought a lot to the offensive line. That is the way the NFL draft works, though. In the early rounds, you take one quality player at the expense of not drafting another one with the hopes you are building a team with the best players available.

Despite getting Mauch, the Steelers have knocked it out of the park with everyone they drafted in the first three rounds, as all of the players will be impactful, and hopefully, they will help the Steelers go on another playoff run. Hats off to Omar Kahn