Steelers news: Pre-draft visit with Georgia EDGE, strange mock draft, and more

With pro days behind us, things have been much quieter on the news front for the Pittsburgh Steelers. At the start of this week, the front office had already used 25 of their possible 30 pre-draft visits. With the information at hand, we've been trying to connect the breadcrumbs to see which players Pittsburgh could be targeting in each round.

On April 11th, the Steelers added a 26th name to their pre-draft visit list, while a prominent NFL Draft analyst makes a somewhat bizarre selection for Pittsburgh with the 17th overall pick. Here's the latest Steelers news:

Steelers news:

The clock is ticking for the Steelers to use the last of their pre-draft visits with the NFL roughly two weeks away. However, that isn't stopping Pittsburgh's brain trust from taking advantage of every opportunity. Recently, they brought in Georgia edge defender, Robert Beal Jr., for a top-30 visit, Joe Rutter of TribLIVE reports:

Like many Bulldogs on Georgia's stacked defense, Beal was only a part-time player over the past two years. After a 6.5-sack season in 2021, Beal earned just 2.5 tackles for a loss and 2.5 sacks in 15 games as a redshirt senior in 2022.

Despite his impressive 40 time at the Combine (4.48), Beal is projected by most to be a late-round draft choice, while some even have him as a priority free agent. It's worth noting that Mike Tomlin, Omar Khan, and Teryl Austin were on hand at Georgia's Pro Day back on March 15th.

More Steelers news:

Recently, ESPN's NFL Draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. released his two-round mock draft. To the astonishment of many, he had the Pittsburgh Steelers going with Boston College wide receiver Zay Flowers. Interestingly, Flowers is a player the team has not met with at his pro day or with a pre-draft visit, so this goes against a number of trends we have seen in the past.

It's also a bit strange that Kiper has Pittsburgh passing on Ohio State OT Paris Johnson Jr. at pick 17 -- a player they had a pro day dinner meeting with this offseason. Kiper may have some insight, but this is more likely just a stab at a position of need for the Steelers.

NFL news:

In NFL news, Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker, Devin White, has formally requested a trade, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports. White has been a very productive linebacker since coming into the league as the fifth overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. The Steelers expressed a great deal of interest in White prior to the draft, but he went too high to potentially make a move.

White has graded out among the worst linebackers in the league in each of the past two seasons and is set to play on the fully guaranteed fifth-year option in 2023 worth just over $11.7 million.