Many of us will be glued to social media as the NFL free agency period is officially underway. While he doesn't have a lot of cap space to work with, Omar Khan certainly has his hands full in one of the busiest weeks of the year in his first offseason as the Pittsburgh Steelers general manager.
Free agency will draw all of the buzz this week, but Pittsburgh is still busy scheduling pre-draft visits in the background. On Monday, one more player was added to their list as Justin Melo of The Draft Network confirmed that the Steelers have a pre-draft visit scheduled with Florida offensive guard, O'Cyrus Torrence.
Florida IOL O'Cyrus Torrence has Top 30 visits lined up with #Steelers, #Commanders and #Bills, per league source.
— Justin M (@JustinM_NFL) March 13, 2023
ICYMI, Torrence's formal Combine interviews listed below 👇 https://t.co/Qb0wJjzpsm
Mike Tomlin and Pittsburgh's brass spent a lot of time around the offensive linemen at the Senior Bowl, and they met with a total of 21 offensive linemen at the NFL Combine -- including six formal visits. Suprisingly, Torrence was not one of them.
Now the big Florida guard is officially squarely on their radar, as he checks to box when it comes to getting the in-house visit from the Steelers. Torrence was outstanding in Mobile for Senior Bowl week and was Pro Football Focus's highest-graded guard in the nation in 2022.
Steelers could be targeting OL in round one
So far, the Steelers have just three pre-draft visits scheduled, but it certainly looks like they will be targeting the offensive line early. In addition to planning a visit with Torrence, Pittsburgh will also be meeting with Ohio State OT Dawand Jones and Florida DL Gervon Dexter.
Though the Steelers have a unit of nimble, athletic offensive linemen on their roster right now, it's interesting that Torrence and Jones don't fit that mold. However, what they lack in speed and foot quickness, they make up for with size and brute strength. Perhaps a shift in philosophy is at hand.
The Steelers have now used just 3 of 30 pre-draft visits, so we should start to get a very clear look at the players they will target during the 2023 NFL Draft. However, as of now, it certainly appears that they could be targeting an offensive lineman very early this April, based on the evidence presented so far.