Steelers Might Trade up in Second Round for Center

The Pittsburgh Steelers have three center targets to look at in the 2024 NFL Draft who could obviously start right away. Those would be Duke’s Graham Barton, Oregon’s Jackson Powers-Johnson, and West Virginia’s Zach Frazier. While a first-round pick for them at that position seems unlikely, they could take one in the second round.

And, according to ESPN draft analysts Field Yates and Mel Kiper, the feedback they have heard on the stock of center prospects, especially Powers-Johnson and Frazier, is that they will go later.

“You see where we are with Jackson Powers-Johnson, I see a lot of first-round mocks with him, but most of my friends in the NFL, they are thinking more second round,” Kiper said on the First Draft Podcast. “They don’t get some of the mocks. But hey, those mocks are talking to their people; we don’t talk to everybody. But I will say on Jackson Powers-Johnson, my intel says second round on him.”

In his latest mock draft, Kiper made changes to reflect that. Powers-Johnson fell all the way to 47th overall, while Frazier fell past the Steelers pick to 57th overall. Pittsburgh did not pick either because they grabbed Graham Barton in the first round, but that is notable. But the Steelers’ interest in both is notable, too.

But Gerry Dulac believes that the Steelers could trade up to go get those guys.

“I think it’s more likely they trade up in the second round if they haven’t used their No. 1 pick on a center,” he wrote.

That makes sense, especially with the profile of the centers they have looked at in Powers-Johnson and Frazier. There is interest, but it does not feel like first-round interest.

Steelers offensive line coach Pat Meyer traveled to Eugene for Oregon pro day to watch Powers-Johnson, according to Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy. Head coach Mike Tomlin and general manager Omar Khan were not in attendance, which usually is a sign for future Steelers first-round picks. Meanwhile, assistant offensive line coach Isaac Williams attended Frazier’s workout at Big 12 Pro Day.

But Powers-Johnson was put through his drills by Meyer. In the past, that has been a sign of the team going after someone in the class. This was the case for George Pickens, Joey Porter Jr., and others on the team in the past.

It’s rare for a center to go in the first round, but Powers-Johnson has played himself into legitimate first-round hype. His movement skills for someone of his size, over 330 pounds, are so rare. And yet, he has only started for one legitimate season. For someone who is inexperienced at center to play the way he did speaks to coaching and is the rare player, he is coming out of college.