Five mock drafters concurred this week that the Pittsburgh Steelers should take a receiver in the first round, but they disagreed on who that pass catcher will be.
With the 21st overall pick, they predicted the Steelers might select Washington’s Denzel Boston, USC’s Makai Lemon or another wideout all together. If so, the Steelers would be drafting a first-round receiver for the first time in 20 years.
Their last was Santonio Holmes in 2006.
However, not everybody sees the Steelers using their first pick on a receiver. The dean of NFL Draft coverage, ESPN’s Mel Kiper has the Steelers choosing a quarterback in the first round.
The NFL Scouting Combine is underway in Indianapolis, giving coaches and scouts a chance to evaluate the top prospects in advance of the NFL Draft in April. Here is a look at the latest mock draft projections entering the combine.
Garrett Podell, CBS Sports
Pick: Denzel Boston, WR, Washington
Latest update: Wednesday
Teaming the 6-foot-4, 210-pound Boston with DK Metcalf would give the Steelers a couple of big receivers. Podell notes “Boston is a tank who can line up in the slot and outside and blow through press coverage.”
Podell projects him as the fourth receiver drafted following Ohio State’s Carnell Tate (fifth), Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson (13th) and USC Makai Lemon (16th).
Boston had 62 catches for 881 yards and 12 touchdowns last season.
Henry McKenna, Fox Sports
Pick: Denzel Boston, WR, Washington
Latest update: Thursday
McKenna also has the Steelers taking Boston, a player linked to them in multiple mock drafts. (NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah linked the Washington receiver to the Steelers in his Feb. 17 mock draft.) McKenna compares Boston to Bengals wideout Tee Higgins, a 6-4, 220-pounder with similar size.
Bucky Brooks, NFL Network
Pick: Makai Lemon, WR, USC
Latest update: Tuesday
NFL.com has nine different analysts sharing mock drafts nowadays, but Brooks’ update was the most recent. He predicted six receivers going in the first round but only two (Tate and Tyson) go before the Steelers draft.
Brooks highlights the 5-foot-11, 195-pound Lemon’s “exceptional running skills,” while calling him a “versatile playmaker” capable of lining up wide or in the slot. He had 79 catches for 1,156 yards and 11 touchdowns last season.
Three more wideouts are chosen later in Brooks’ mock draft: Texas Tech’s KC Concepcion (23rd), Boston (24th) and Notre Dame’s Malachi Fields (26th).
Nate Tice and Charles McDonald, Yahoo
Pick: Makai Lemon, WR, USC
Latest update: Thursday
Tice and McDonald acknowledge that while the Steelers “might not traditionally take wide receivers in the first round,” the passing game faltered too often last season.
They envision Lemon pairing nicely with Metcalf, noting that the former USC pass catcher played primarily in the slot and would give “this offense an underneath weapon who can actually create something.” Lemon is the third receiver off the board in the Yahoo mock draft.
Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz, USA Today
Pick: Omar Cooper Jr., WR, Indiana
Latest update: Thursday
Cooper was the leading receiver for the national champion Hoosiers, but the 6-foot, 204-pounder isn’t a first-rounder in too many mock drafts. Middlehurst-Schwartz acknowledges the pick might surprise some, “but his skill set would go a long way toward curing the Steelers’ ills.”
He describes Cooper as a “bull with the ball in his hands” suited for yards after catch. He had 69 catches for 937 yards and 13 touchdowns last season.
Mel Kiper, ESPN
Pick: Ty Simpson, QB, Alabama
Latest update: Tuesday
The original NFL Draft guru, Kiper has a different opinion on the Steelers’ first pick. His latest mock draft has coach Mike McCarthy and GM Omar Khan using “a longer-view lens” to select Simpson as potentially their next franchise quarterback. Simpson has only 15 college career starts, Kiper noted, “but his game has a lot of promise.”
Kiper adds that the Steelers could re-sign Aaron Rodgers or “another veteran stopgap to keep them in contention next season” while giving Simpson time to acclimate. Simpson is the second quarterback off Kiper’s draft board behind Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, the expected first-overall pick.
