The consensus among draft gurus remains that the Pittsburgh Steelers will select a receiver in the first round of the NFL Draft in April.
However, on the heels of the scouting combine, an increasing number of analysts are projecting Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson as the pass-catcher wearing black and gold next season. Coincidentally, the Sun Devils wide receivers coach is former Steelers wideout Hines Ward.
Still, not everyone agrees that Tyson will be available at pick No. 21 while others have the Steelers taking a quarterback in the first round.
Here’s a look at the latest mock drafts:
Lance Zierlein, NFL Network
Pick: Jordyn Tyson, WR, Arizona State
Latest update: Wednesday
Zierlein projects that the Steelers will take the best-available player at a position of need, so wide receiver certainly applies here. Tyson is the third receiver off the board in Zierlein’s mock draft after Ohio State’s Carnell Tate (11th pick) and USC’s Makai Lemon (13th).
The 6-foot-2, 203-pounder didn’t run the 40-yard dash at the combine, so Zierlein notes that a good time at Arizona State’s pro day “could take Tyson off the board before this pick …”
Tyson had 61 receptions for 711 yards and eight touchdowns last season.
Charles Davis, NFL Network
Pick: Denzel Boston, WR, Washington
Latest update: Thursday
Count Davis among those who doubt Tyson will be available at pick No. 21.
He has Tate (sixth), Lemon (13th) and Tyson (16th) all off the draft board before the Steelers’ pick, leaving Pittsburgh to take Boston. At 6-foot-4, 212-pound, draft gurus see him forming a tall tandem with DK Metcalf.
Boston showed a 35-inch vertical jump at the combine but didn’t run the 40.
Davis envisioned how Boston “will be embraced in the Steel City,” while noting his toughness.
Jordan Reid, ESPN
Pick: Jordyn Tyson, WR, Arizona State
Latest update: Thursday
Add another vote of confidence for Tyson. Reid goes as far as calling him “arguably the most talented receiver in this class,” but adds that questions about his durability could see him fall into the Steelers’ range.
Geoff Schwartz, Fox Sports
Pick: Omar Cooper Jr., WR, Indiana
Latest update: Thursday
Tate, Lemon and Tyson are all off the board in Schwartz’s draft. But rather than select Boston, as other have suggested, he has the Steelers selecting Cooper. The 6-foot, 199-pounder was the leading receiver for the national champion Hoosiers.
Cooper posted a 4.42-second 40-yard time at the combine.
Rob Maaddi, Associated Press
Pick: Ty Simpson, QB, Alabama
Latest update: Thursday
Many analysts seem to have faded on Simpson’s first-round draft stock, but Maaddii has the Steelers taking him 21st, noting that the 6-foot-1, 211-pound passer “could finally be Pittsburgh’s long-term answer at quarterback with a chance to develop under coach Mike McCarthy.”
Tom Fornelli, CBS Sports
Pick: Jordyn Tyson, WR, Arizona State
Latest update: Wednesday
Fornelli had the Steelers drafting Simpson in his previous mock draft but now he favors Tyson. He considers the Arizona State wideout a “great value here and could fly up boards depending on how he performs at his pro day.”
As for quarterbacks, Fornelli includes only one in the first round: Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, the consensus choice to go first overall to the Raiders.
Ryan Wilson, CBS Sports
Pick: Denzel Boston, WR, Washington
Latest update: Monday
Wilson agrees with his CBS Sports colleague about the position but disagrees about the player. Wilson describes Boston as “a long-striding, contested-catch machine” and a much-needed No. 2 receiver in the Steelers’ offense.
Interestingly, Wilson said he questioned whether the Steelers might take Penn State offensive lineman Olaivavega Ioane but decided “the guard class is deeper than the WR class when talking about starter-capable talent.”
Nate Davis, USA Today
Pick: Jordyn Tyson, WR, Arizona State
Latest update: Thursday
Davis acknowledges that the Steelers could make a big splash in front of the home fans by drafting a quarterback in the first round. “Is it the best move in a seemingly weaker QB class …?” Davis asks. “Of course not.”
Instead, he takes Tyson, calling him “a complete package.”
