Why Omar Khan, Mike Tomlin Spend So Much Time on the Road in Draft Prep
Even though the Pittsburgh Steelers seemed to have an abnormally flashy offseason, general manager Omar Khan insisted that not much has changed in regard to how the team approached the entire process in an interview on the Pat McAfee Show.
“I was trained by Kevin [Colbert.] Pretty much everything we do, with some tweaks to things, is similar to the way we did it before,” said Khan. “When we make any big decision here, Coach Tomlin, Art Rooney, and myself will get together and make a Steeler decision, and if it makes sense for us to do something or not do something that is what we will do.”
Khan talked about how the team approached the offseason process and how they assessed each prospect in the draft. This included the difficulties that he found in the scouting process.
“When we meet with these [prospects,] we just have a casual dinner and get to know them, really learn a lot about them. We don’t have a lot of time but we take advantage of that time,” said Khan about the scouting process.
One of the flashy moves that Khan helped pull off this offseason was when the Steelers traded up with the New England Patriots to select Broderick Jones in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Then, Khan replaced the fourth-round pick used to move up with the Patriots when he decided to trade out of the team’s original third-round selection. Many experts claimed the Steelers as the “winners” of the draft.
“We studied how the draft was coming off and … we had a conversation [with the Patriots] and said ‘hey if we are in that situation, would you guys be interested’ and it made sense for both of us,” said Khan about trading up in the first round.
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Khan later mentioned that though it seemed that he was aggressive during the draft, that was not entirely true. He said that he simply did not eliminate any possible outcome and took each situation as it came.
“I can’t speak for other people but I take every call and I listen,” said Khan.
Khan worked for the Steelers for 21 years prior to his promotion and this gave him insight into how the organization preferred to handle their business.
“I have been here for so long that I knew the structure was not going to change. Like I said, every time that there’s a big decision, it’s always going to be a Steeler decision and the right people will get into a room and discuss it,” said Khan.
In the middle of Khan’s interview with the Pat McAfee Show, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin butted in to give his general manager praise for the job he has done in his first year as the Steelers’ general manager.
“He has honed his skills to a fine edge, man.”
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