PITTSBURGH — The Steelers may share the facility with the Pittsburgh Panthers of the ACC, and because of that, they don’t have a far trip to the pro day, but the brass showed up in bunches on Wednesday for Pitt’s pro day.
The group included assistant general manager Andy Weidl, defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, wide receiver coach Frisman Jackson, running backs coach Eddie Faulkner, defensive backs coach Grady Brown, director of pro scouting Sheldon White, assistant director of pro scouting Dave Petett, and scouting coordinator Casey Weidl.
That is a large group, but they share the facility with them. Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan were absent, they were still in Phoenix for the owner’s meetings and off the scouting trail as a result. While the Steelers were paying attention to multiple prospects, it still has to be taken with a grain of salt for a number of reasons.
However, they did end up drafting Kenny Pickett last year. Could something similar matriculate this year? Notable prospects working out included defensive lineman Calijah Kancey, running back Israel Abanikanda, safety Brandon Hill, linebacker SirVocea Dennis, and edge rusher Habakkuk Baldonado.
All prospects have to be taken into account, and some, such as Baldonado, Hill, and Dennis actually make sense for the Steelers given some of the needs they carry. Pittsburgh havs the advantage of knowing the Panthers’ players better than most around the NFL. Given they share the facility, they likely hear a lot about the prospects and can watch them as well. Still, getting a closer look and chatting with some of the prospects is never something to take for granted when looking at prospects.
In particular, Austin and Brown watched Hill closely throughout his drills. Austin even got involved in some of the drills heavily to fully dive into the drill. After the loss of Terrell Edmunds, Hill could be a potential player to watch for the Steelers if the interest is real.