Steelers Mock Draft 2023: Pittsburgh fills their biggest team needs

Steelers mock draft round 4: Wide Receiver Charlie Jones

4th Rd – Wide Receiver/Returner – Charlie Jones – Purdue – 5’-11”, 175 lbs - At the Combine Jones went from ‘deceptively fast’ to just plain fast with a 4.43 forty. He runs crisp routes and shows extra gear when going long. He tracks the ball very well. His hands are good. QB, Aidan O’Connell, made a habit out of throwing the ball where he knew only Jones could catch it, no matter how difficult that catch might be.

Though he’s not tall and has a sort of slight build he doesn’t get pushed around. He knows how to body up and block out the defender so he can make the catch. Against Penn State, Jones absolutely scorched Joey Porter Jr. when the two went head to head. I think he’s the most underrated WR in this class.

After being mostly an afterthought at Buffalo and Iowa, Jones hauled in an eye-popping 110 passes for 1361 yards at 12.4 yards per and 12 TDs in 2022 at Purdue. He has added value as a return man. In his career, he had 77 punt returns for 622 yards at 8.1 yards per with one going for a TD. He also took one to the house as a kick returner with 45 returns for 1002 yards at 22.3 yards per. He wasn’t used a great deal on jet sweeps but he did have 11 runs for 49 yards at 4.5 per on his career. Jones might be limited to the slot but he could excel there.