Saunders: Steelers 2023 NFL Draft Big Board

Steelers NFL Draft Paris Johnson
Ohio State offensive lineman Paris Johnson Jr. (77) looks for someone to block against Penn State during an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022, in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Barry Reeger)

With months of preparations done and just one week to go before the 2023 NFL Draft, big boards around the NFL are rounding into shape. Today, we tried our hand at replicating a draft board for the Pittsburgh Steelers through their five early picks in next week’s selection.

We already tried predicting what will happen all around the Steelers, with our three-round mock draft.

This is a different exercise. Instead of predicting who will be available to the Steelers, let’s take a look at who the Steelers would draft, if available at every slot. For this exercise, we’ve taken quarterback and running back off the board, as they seem unlikely to be selected by the Steelers in the first four rounds. Every other position is on the table.

Then, we’ve broken down each position group into tiers based on where they are likely to be selected in the draft. The first group are players that will probably be taken ahead of their pick at 17, but they may trade up for or hope that falls to them. The next group are players that should be on their board, start at pick No. 17, and continuing through the end of the first round. Each subsequent tier works the same way.

The result should be a draft board that looks something like what Omar Khan and company will be working from, starting on Thursday night.

Key:

BOLD players had Mike Tomlin, Omar Khan and/or Andy Weidl at their pro day.

Red players took top 30 visits to Pittsburgh.

Underlined players met with the Steelers at the 2023 NFL Combine in Indianapolis.

Italics players met with the Steelers at the 2023 Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama.

OT CB IDL EDGE WR TE IOL S LB
Above 17 Paris Johnson Jr.

Peter Skoronski

Broderick Jones

Christian Gonzalez

Devon Witherspoon

Jalen Carter Tyree Wilson Jaxon Smith-Ngijba
17-31 Darnell Wright Joey Porter Jr.

Deonte Banks

Calijah Kancey

Bryan Bresee

Lukas Van Ness

Myles Murphy

Nolan Smith

Quentin Johnston

Jordan Addison

Zay Flowers

Michael Mayer

Dalton Kincaid

O’Cyrus Torrence Brian Branch
32-48 Anton Harrison

Dawand Jones

Emmanuel Forbes

Cam Smith

Kelee Ringo

Tyrique Stevenson

Mazi Smith Will McDonald IV

Adetomiwa Adebawore

Felix Anudike-Uzomah

Keion White

Jaylin Hyatt Darnell Washington

Luke Musgrave

John Michael Schmitz Trenton Simpson

Drew Sanders

49 Matthew Bergeron Julius Brents Keeanu Benton

Gervon Dexton

Siaki Ika

B.J. Ojulari

Isaiah Foskey

Derick Hall

Tuli Tuipulotu

Josh Downs

Cedric Tillman

Sam LaPorta Steve Avila

Cody Mauch

Antonio Johnson Jack Campbell

Daiyan Henley

80 Blake Freeland

Jaelyn Duncan

D.J. Turner

Clark Phillips III

Garrett Williams

Cory Trice

Zacch Pickens

Karl Brooks

Andre Carter II

Zach Harrison

Rashee Rice

Marvin Mims

Tank Dell

Jayden Reed

Tyler Scott

Jonathan Mingo

Tucker Kraft Joe Tippmann

Luke Wypler

Jordan Battle

Sydney Brown

Ja’Ayir Brown

Jartavius Martin

Henry To’oto’o

Nick Herbig

120 Tyler Steen

Wanya Morris

Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlison

Darius Rush

Eli Ricks

Kyu Blu Kelly

Chamarri Conner

Riley Moss

Jaylon Jones

Anthony Johnson

Byron Young

Moro Ojomo

Jaquelin Roy

Isaiah McGuire

Byron Young

YaYa Diaby

A.T. Perry

Michael Wilson

Kayshon Boutte

Trey Palmer

Parker Washington

Xavier Hutchinson

Charlie Jones

Bryce Ford-Wheaton

Luke Schoonmaker

Brenton Strange

Zack Kuntz

Chandler Zavala

Olu Oluwatimi

Jarrett Patterson

Jammie Robinson

Christopher Smith II

Brandon Joseph

J.L. Skinner

Daniel Scott

DeMarcco Hellams

Ronnie Hickman

Noah Sewell

DeMarvion Overshown

Owen Pappoe

Ivan Pace Jr.

Dorian Williams