‘Take the Tackle’: Daniel Jeremiah Believes Steelers Should Address OT in First Round

The Steelers should address offensive tackle at 17th overall in the first round, according to Daniel Jeremiah, who is a former NFL scout and one of the top draft analysts at NFL Network.

On a conference call with the media on Thursday, Jeremiah was asked what he thinks the Steelers should do with their first pick after signing guys like Isaac Seumalo and Patrick Peterson, While he acknowledged that there are other needs, including cornerback, defensive line, and edge rusher, he views offensive tackle as the obvious pick.

“I would just say, if you are looking at those three (OT, CB, EDGE), to me where they’re picking at 17, it makes more sense to go offensive tackle first. I think there’s a bigger dropoff at that position if you don’t get one there with your first pick,” Jeremiah said.

This follows the trend of the draft season for Jeremiah. He believes that the Steelers are in a good spot to address the position. With Dan Moore starting plenty of games, it will take a top player to come in and knock him out of the starting slot for the 2023 season. So, that means it likely has to come with either the first-round pick or the pick at 32.

One other factor for Jeremiah is that he believes in the depth at both edge rusher and cornerback more than the tackle class. So, to him, the Steelers can take one of the top tackles at 17 and come back in the second round and some quality players at the other spots.

To me it makes the most sense if one of those top tackles is there, take a tackle at 17,” Jeremiah said. “Then you turn around at 32, and I think you can afford to just say, hey, highest-rated player between a corner and an edge rusher. I think there’s going to be some really good options at both those spots.”

If the crumbs on the draft trail keep coming back, it would not be a stretch to say that Jeremiah can easily be right. It might just take a bit more luck for one of those tackles to make it to the Steelers and where they pick. So, for now, that makes sense, but will one of them be there for the taking at 17?