We are now only five days away from the start of the 2019 NFL draft. The Steelers likely have their big board all together but for all of us on the outsiders, there has been very little legitimate information leaked in terms of the direction the Steelers are going in the draft.
Here are some not-so-bold predictions for the Steelers draft.
Pittsburgh will draft two wide receivers
Despite signing Donte Moncrief as a free agent, we expect Pittsburgh to draft two wide receivers in order to create competition in training camp. The Steelers have 10 picks and while we don’t expect them to draft 10 players, there are some really interesting late-round wide receiver prospects and Pittsburgh loves those sleeper receivers.
No trade up in the first round
There are plenty of fans who want to see the Steelers move up to draft one of the top inside linebackers, either Devin Bush or Devin White. We are here to tell you that isn’t going to happen. The cost to get into the Top 10 would be ridiculous and there’s no way with the addition of Mark Barron the team needs to mortgage the future for any one player in this draft class.
A trade up in the second round
While there won’t be a trade up in the first, we expect to see the Steelers use one of their two third-round picks to make a move up in the second round. There’s a really good group of prospects who are going to come off the board in the 25-45 range and if the Steelers see a player they covet slide a little, they will go up and get them. This is the area where we look for Michigan edge rusher Chase Winovich to be in play.
The Steelers first-round pick won’t be a rookie starter
It is starting to feel like the Steelers will have their pick of cornerbacks when they go on the clock in the first round. If the Steelers opt for one of them, it isn’t likely they see much of the field in their rookie year unless there is a catastrophic injury. Joe Haden, Steven Nelson and Mike Hilton have the top three spots on the depth chart locked down and there isn’t a rookie in this group who will bump any of them.
The Steelers will not draft a tight end
After letting Jesse James walk, it seemed like tight end would be on the Steelers draft radar. However, they have spent very little time scouting tight ends and seem content with Vance McDonald and Xavier Grimble as the team’s only viable tight end options.
Pittsburgh drafts a safety in the first three rounds
Maybe this is just wishful thinking but with a safety class this deep and only two good safeties on the roster, we are banking on Pittsburgh looking for rangy free safety to take some heat off Sean Davis and let Terrell Edmunds play closer to the line of scrimmage.
