Five Steelers Takeaways from First Day of Senior Bowl Practice

Pittsburgh Steelers 2025 NFL Draft Senior Bowl
Defensive linemen at the 2025 Senior Bowl on Jan. 28, 2025. -- Alan Saunders / Steelers Now

MOBILE, Ala. — The first day of practice for the 2025 Senior Bowl is in the books, and the Pittsburgh Steelers were active as always in scouting for 2025 NFL Draft prospects.

The Steelers sent the house to Mobile, with general manger Omar Khan and head coach Mike Tomlin flanked by coordinators Arthur Smith and Teryl Austin on the field and a whole bevy of scouts and executives in the skybox.

That group spent a whole lot of time focused on the defensive line position, but what about some overall takeaways from the first practice session of the draft season?

Pittsburgh Steelers 2025 NFL Draft Prospect QB Dillon Gabriel Oregon
Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel at 2025 Senior Bowl practice on Jan. 28, 2025. — Alan Saunders / Steelers Now

Bad Year to Need a Quarterback

Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart, Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard, Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel, Louisville’s Tyler Shough, Memphis’ Seth Henigana nd Canadian Tyler Elgersma are the quarterbacks, and this was not a session that I’d consider an above-average performance from any of them. 

Jim Nagy said on Monday that there isn’t a quarterback here that would’ve cracked the top six last season, and if this session is any indication, I’d agree.

Not sure why both Milroe and Dart are on the same team. They’re the best prospects at the position. Dart was OK on Tuesday. He was able to showcase his arm strength a bit. Milroe, asked to stand still in the pocket and throw to a spot in the structured environment, looked like it was the first time he’d ever done that in his life. Milroe is an elite athlete, but playing within structure may be a challenge.

Leonard didn’t have a lot of zip on his passes. Gabriel did, but without much in terms of accuracy.

Pittsburgh Steelers 2025 NFL Draft Florida State CB Azareye'h Thomas Senior Bowl
Florida State cornerback Azareye’h Thomas at practice for the 2025 Senior Bowl on Jan. 28, 2025. — Alan Saunders / Steelers Now

Bad Passers Mean Tough Evals for WR/CBs

Some lackluster quarterback play didn’t help this wide receiver group, but no one really bailed out their quarterback, either. Iowas State’s Jayden Higgins had the best play of this group that I saw. He also has the kind of frame at 6-foot-3 3/4 that makes sense for the Steelers, who really need an outside-only type of player.

Other wide receiver standouts included Jack Bech, Tai Felton and Jalen Royals.

CB Azareye’h Thomas from Florida State is the star prospect here, probably the best on the entire National Team, and there wasn’t a wide receiver that got the best of him on Tuesday. The evaluations here were pretty tough, as there weren’t a lot of competitive throws to grade on. 

Louisville’s Quincy Riley, Virginia Tech’s Dorian Strong, Kentucky’s Maxwell Hairston and Trey Amos all also had productive days. Cornerback seems like a fairly deep group here and in the 2025 NFL Draft class overall.

Gordon Not a Great Fit

I was excited to get a look at Oklahoma State running back Ollie Gordon II, but I didn’t come away particularly impressed. This is a hard setting to evaluate running backs. You have lineman that don’t even know each other’s names trying to execute a blocking scheme they just learned. But Gordon’s high pad level and lack of change of direction kind of remind me of a poor man’s Najee Harris in some ways, and I’m not sure that’s an enticing skillset for Arthur Smith’s scheme.

Pittsburgh Steelers 2025 NFL Draft West Virginia OL Wyatt Milum Senior Bowl
West Virginia offensive lineman Wyatt Milum at practice for the 2025 Senior Bowl on Jan. 28, 2025. — Alan Saunders / Steelers ow

Maybe Don’t Rule Out Offensive Line — or Tight End

Wyatt Milum, who played tackle at West Virginia, lined up at both center and guard on this first day. He said he plans to do some tackle work, as well. He had a great, nasty rep against Iowa defensive tackle Yahya Black, with a little pushing and shoving at the end, for good measure.

North Dakota State center/guard Gray Zabel had an eye-opening day, as well. Willie Lampkin, the undersized North Carolina guard, had a great day against some much bigger opponents, including giant Kentucky DT Deone Walker.

Interior offensive line feels like a bit of a luxury pick for the Steelers at this point, but there are solid options in this class.

Tight end Harold Fannin is an interesting prospect out of Bowling Green. He didn’t do a lot of blocking against high-level opposition in college. He got his fill today. The National offense, led by New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka, even had him line up at fullback. He got into some big collisions from that spot, and kind of held his own. 

Stock slightly up on the athletic tight end — which is a sleeper need for the Steelers. MyCole Pruitt was not great this past season, and probably should not be invited back. They could use a more dynamic option to go with Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington.

Pittsburgh Steelers 2025 NFL Draft Prospect Virginia Tech DL Aenas Peebles
Virginia Tech defensive tackle Aeneas Peebles at practice for the Senior Bowl on Jan. 28, 2025. — Alan Saunders / Steelers Now

Even Depth DTs Shine

Defensive tackle was the major focus for the Steelers on Tuesday, and we already covered their interest in the position extensively when it comes to the top-of-the-draft options.

Three down-the board defensive tackles had good days on Tuesday. Josh Farmer from Florida State has a solid frame and didn’t get moved backward very much. Darius Alexander from Toledo did not back down from the improved level of competition.

A big winner here was Virginia Tech’s Aeneas Peebles. He’s a bit undersized for what the Steelers need, but he has a high motor and loves to stop the run.

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