Pittsburgh Steelers' Late-Season Updated Mock Draft

With the NFL season heading down the home stretch, it is time to take another look at an NFL draft projection for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Regardless of what happens the rest of this season, there looks to be some difficult personnel decisions that are going to have to be made. 

One thing that could ease some of the transition of these aging veterans is to knock the 2015 NFL draft class out of the park. Everyone thought the 2014 class was going to be the class to turn the corner, but things are going a bit slower than planned. However, it is not time to give up on this group.  

Instead, the best thing the Steelers front office can do is focus on the most glaring positions of need and select the highest rated player at each of those in a given round. The first round will dictate so much about this draft for Pittsburgh. If the Steelers opt for a cornerback in the first round, that would completely change the dynamic of the other six rounds. 

So with that, let’s take a look at this late-season Steelers projection. 

 

All college player data courtesy of the college football section of sports-reference.com.

First Round

The Pick: Shane Ray, LB Missouri

The only two directions I can see this team going in the first round is cornerback or pass-rushing outside linebacker. The defensive secondary has been dreadful all season, and the outside linebacker spot is no less tenuous.  

At cornerback, Ike Taylor, Brice McCain and Antwon Blake are all free agents. At outside linebacker, Jason Worilds, Arthur Moats and James Harrison are all going to be without contracts at the end of the season. 

For this projection, I go with the outside linebacker. The reason being the level of talent among these top edge-rushers is truly elite. By contrast, the cornerback class is talented and deep, but lacking those top-tier prospects. 

Missouri’s Shane Ray is one of the most explosive edge-rushers in all of college football. His first step off the ball is truly elite, but what makes Ray special is that he is much more than a one-move pass-rusher. If Ray can’t get to the corner on a tackle, he shows tremendous balance as he breaks back inside for a power rush.  

Ray does a great job with his hands, keeping himself clean, and he can close on a ball-carrier in a hurry. Ray has a real shot to be the player that Jarvis Jones was supposed to be. 

Second Round

The Pick: Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, CB Oregon

With outside linebacker taken care of, the Steelers can turn to cornerback in the second round. The Steelers have 2014 fifth-round pick Shaquille Richardson on IR, but I’m making this pick on the assumption he is back in 2015 and ready to roll. 

This means rather than just targeting a tall cornerback, the Steelers can look to the total skill set instead. Oregon cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu is a technician and physical man cornerback.  The Steelers have had great success with cornerback William Gay and even now are happy with shorter cornerbacks like Brice McCain and Antwon Blake in this system.

What Ekpre-Olomu might lack in stature (5’10”), he more than makes up for with sound fundamentals, excellent short-area quickness and elite ball skills. Ekpre-Olomu is not afraid to blitz or mix it up in the run game, but he’ll end up a Steeler because he is smart and fearless; never backing down from a challenge.

Ekpre-Olomu might not be the prospect that last season's small cornerback Jason Verrett is, but in the second round, Ekpre-Olomu is a steal.

Third Round

The Pick: Chris Hackett, S TCU

It has been a great career for safety Troy Polamalu, but the Steelers need to give thought to not only who is going to replace him but who will replace that stink bomb masquerading as a free safety in Mike Mitchell. Mitchell is locked in through 2015 because of his contract, but that doesn’t mean Pittsburgh cannot upgrade there as well. 

The TCU coaches have enough confidence in safety Chris Hackett to put him not only as a single-high free safety in zone but also in man coverage against wide receivers and tight ends. It makes sense. He can run with wide receivers and can body bigger tight ends.

There’s a really good reason for that. Hackett is huge (6’2”, 195 pounds) and can run. In many cases a defensive back this size would look stiff and struggle in space, but Hackett does not. Hackett is a tremendous athlete who a defensive coordinator like Dick LeBeau could use all over the field. 

Fourth Round

The Pick: Chris Carter, DT Ohio State

The re-building of the Pittsburgh defense continues into the fourth round. This time the Steelers look to upgrade their nose tackle position. Defensive tackle Cam Thomas has been an egregious bust this season, and fellow defensive tackle Steve McLendon has struggled to stay healthy. There is great promise with the massive Daniel McCullers but depth is definitely a concern. 

There are few players in this draft who cast a shadow as imposing as Ohio State defensive tackle Chris Carter. The 6’4”, 342-pound nose tackle is born to play the nose in a 3-4 defense. Carter isn’t exactly nimble, but he’s a high-motor kid with lots of power and a strong base. Carter can absorb a double team and uses his upper-body strength to overwhelm a single blocker. 

The Steelers and their fans still want to know when the next Casey Hampton will arrive, and Carter could be him. If Pittsburgh could get a potential rotational nose tackle who can stuff the run this late in the draft to go with McCullers, it would be a great pick.

Fifth Round

The Pick: Sean Mannion, QB Oregon State

It may not seem prudent to draft a quarterback with so many needs on this team. However, the reality is that while quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is a star, this team sorely lacks depth, and a plan for the future. 

Seriously, does anyone want to see this team being led by Bruce Gradkowski or Landry Jones? Of course you don’t. Pittsburgh is in a great spot that they can cut Jones loose, call it a loss and take another shot on a future franchise signal-caller. 

This time around it is Oregon State’s Sean Mannion. Mannion has all the requisite size a team looks for in a quarterback, and he has shown more than enough arm strength to build on. No, he’s not a finished product in terms of velocity, but his upper body mechanics are sound, and if he can clean up his feet his arm will improve. 

The main case for picking Mannion and cutting Jones loose is to do with the neck up. Where Jones gets the yips every time a defender gets in the same zip code, Mannion has shown nice poise in the pocket and isn't afraid to stand in and make a throw.

Sixth Round

The Pick: Hunter Mullins, P UAB

Could the Steelers really use a draft pick on a punter? When you consider just how atrocious the Steelers punting game has been, the answer must be a yes. Punter Brad Wing is averaging a feeble 43.9 yards per punt which puts him No. 26 in the league.  

The Steelers are stuck with him for this season, but there's a better chance of Roethlisberger's pooch punting next season than Wing coming back. You know, that might not be a terrible idea for the rest of this season. 

So, as a possible replacement the Steelers take a shot on UAB punter Hunter Mullins. Mullins has the biggest leg of any draft-eligible punter there is. Mullins gets great air under his kicks and does an excellent job with directional punts. With Pittsburgh's track record of late-round picks not exactly working out, why not take a shot on a potential starter this late?

Seventh Round

The Pick: Rob Havenstein, OT Wisconsin

This draft closes by addressing the offensive line. The current group has really played well as of late, in particular as run-blockers. However, the right tackle spot is somewhat shaky. The combination of Marcus Gilbert and Mike Adams has been less-than stellar, and so Pittsburgh uses this final pick to get a big, strong kid with starter potential. 

Wisconsin tackle Rob Havenstein is one of the biggest men in the draft at 6'8" and 327 pounds. All that size makes Havenstein a natural mauler in the run game. His length allows him to get his hands on defenders and at that point he just overwhelms them. 

The downside to Havenstein's game is he is still very much a work-in-progress as a pass protector. His feet aren't great and he struggles to set up. His long-term future could be as a massive guard in the NFL or a right tackle for a power-running team.