2025 NFL Draft Senior Bowl Steelers Analysis
Saunders: Steelers Senior Bowl-Only Mock 2025 NFL Draft
MOBILE, Ala. — Everyone has a Pittsburgh Steelers mock draft, but no one has one like this one. The Senior Bowl week wraps up today with the college all-star game held at Hancock Whitney Stadium on the campus of South Alabama at 2:30 p.m on NFL Network.
While the game will be played today, the evaluators have all flown home. Their focus this week is on the three days of practice and the meetings and interviews in between, where they get to know these players and try to figure out what makes them tick.
Plenty of players made some money in that process, impressing NFL teams and moving up draft boards, while some others likely also dropped in the eyes of the league, and that goes the same for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Every year, after the week of practice, I create a mock draft for the Steelers, entirely based on players that were here at the Senior Bowl.
And despite the fact that very few of the top players available are in Mobile, I’ve had a pretty decent track record with this. I correctly picked Keeanu Benton to the Steelers in 2022 and Zach Frazier in last season’s Steelers Senior Bowl mock draft.
Steelers Senior Bowl Mock Draft Rules: For the first round, I’m limiting myself to players ranked 21st or higher at NFL Mock Draft Database. For the second round, I’ll expand that to within five places of the Steelers’ pick, and so on down the line.
Round 1, Pick No. 21: DT Walter Nolen, Ole Miss
There are a group of about four defensive tackles that will be taken somewhere between the first half of the first round and the first half of the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft. After a really strong week in Mobile, you can probably count on Walter Nolen being in the first half.
The Ole Miss defensive tackle looked great, even in a very strong group of interior defensive linemen here this week, and he made some extra points in the eyes of evaluators by fighting through an injury on Wednesday to return to practice on Thursday.
Nolen had 6.5 sacks and 14 tackles for loss las season, so he’s more of an up-the-field player than say, Cam Heyward was coming out of college. He probably would not move Keeanu Benton from nose, instead being more of a 1-to-1 replacement for Larry Ogunjobi. I think I like some of the other defensive linemen in that group to be better fits for the Steelers, but as Nolen was the only one in Mobile, this is an easy choice.
Others considered: QB Jalen Milroe, Alabama; OLB Shemar Stewart, Texas A&M
Round 2, Pick No. 52: CB Azareye’h Thomas, Florida State
I’m not sure a Senior Bowl player impressed more than Azareye’h Thomas. I had heard some buzz coming into the process, but I was not expecting Thomas to be as much of a pure lock-down cornerback. He looks like a press-man monster with great ball skills. He got exposed early in the week, when he was sent to the slot to deal with the likes of twitchy Oregon receiver Tez Johnson, but he showed a great attitude, got better as the week went on, and was a monster when left outside to deal with even the biggest receivers at the Senior Bowl.
The Steelers would be lucky to make this pick, as Thomas is currently ranked No. 48 on the NFL Mock Draft Database big board, just inside the threshold for this pick, but I doubt he’ll be there long. He played like a first rounder this week at the Senior Bowl.
In terms of draft strategy, I’m a little skeptical that the Steelers will go defense in each of the first two rounds, but Thomas was so far and away the best player available here that I’m picking him anyway.
Others considered: CB Trey Amos, Ole Miss; QB Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss; TE Harold Fannin, Bowling Green, DT T.J. Sanders, South Carolina; DT Deone Walker, Kentucky; DT Omarr Norman-Lott, Tennessee; CB Maxwell Hairston, Kentucky
Round 3, Pick No. 83: WR Jayden Higgins, Iowa State
The Steelers have had a big need at wide receiver, and have for what feels like forever at this point. I expect them to do something about that in free agency, but I also expect fans to be rightfully pulling their hair out if they wait until Round 3 to address the position on draft day.
But sometimes good things are worth the wait. Higgins is one of the few players in this draft class with real outside receiver size at 6-foot-3 3/4 and 217 pounds. He isn’t necessarily the shiftiest receiver in the world, and he’s probably not going to break any records in the 40 at the combine, but he is fast enough, more than big enough, and has pretty good hands, too.
I’m not saying Higgins is the answer to all the Steelers problems at wide receiver, but he’s a really, really good day two option. This is another player whose draft stock I expect to rise after this week.
Others considered: WR Xavier Restrepo, Miami; TE Mason Taylor, LSU; WR Jaylen Royals, Utah State; WR Tez Johnson, Oregon; CB Dorian Strong, Virginia Tech; RB Ollie Gordon II, Oklahoma State; QB Dillon Gabriel, Oregon
Round 4, Pick No. 122: RB Devin Neal, Kansas
After practice on Wednesday, I asked Devin Neal what kind of run scheme fits him best. He looked at me like I was stupid and said “wide zone.”
There is not a player here in Mobile that is more obviously a good fit for Arthur Smith’s offense than Neal, who just a 125% scale model of Jaylen Warren in a lot of ways. At 5-foot-10 3/4 and 220 pounds, he’ll be able to provide some of the oomph that the Steelers will be lacking when Najee Harris likely moves on, but he also has the speed to get to the edge to run Smith’s outside concepts.
This is a deep running back class, and you could probably wait and still get a good player if so inclined, but I like the work I did with the team’s top three needs above. If for some reason the Steelers hadn’t addressed wide receiver in free agency, I might be more tempted to double dip there with TCU’s Jack Bech, who also had a fantastic week here.
Others considered: WR Tai Felton, Maryland; TE Elijah Arroyo, Miami; WR Jaylin Noel, Iowa State, DT Aeneas Peebles, Virginia Tech; WR Jack Bech, TCU; CB Quincy Riley, Louisville; DT Joshua Farmer, Florida State,
Round 5, Pick No. 163: DT Darius Alexander, Toledo
This guy just screams Pittsburgh Steeler. He’s a defensive lineman with a crazy-high motor that’s a great run defender and also has the athleticism and smarts to bat down a ton of passes, and even drop into coverage. They also love their MAC players, and Toledo has specifically been a place they’ve been to a bunch over the years.
The Steelers don’t just need one defensive linemen. In addition to needing long-term starters to pair with Benton, depth players Montravius Adams and Isaiahh Loudermilk are both free agents. Those guys haven’t been bad, but a younger option sounds nice, as well.
I really considered quarterback here, but Riley Leonard just did not impress me this week, and I think I’d rather have better depth elsewhere. Justin Fields is going to start. The quarterback picking this draft is just going to be a dart throw, and I don’t think Leonard has starter upside.
If Jack Bech was the pick in the fourth, I’d have taken running back Bhayshul Tuten from Virginia Tech here. Tuten is a speed freak and blocked like a badass. He might be too much like Warren.
Others considered: RB R.J. Harvey, UCF; DT Darius Alexander, Toledo; RB Damien Martinez, Miami; QB Riley Leonard, Notre Dame; TE Jake Briningstool, Clemson; CB Jacob Parrish, Kansas State; CB Upton Stout, Western Kentucky; RB Bhayshul Tuten, Virginia Tech; G Jackson Slater, Sacramento State; RB Jo’Quavious Marks, USC; DT Jamaree Caldwell, Oregon
Round 7, Pick No. 225: QB Tyler Shough, Louisville
Tyler Shough had an OK first day, but didn’t close out the week the way you’d have liked to see, and for an experienced pocket passer, that’s not a particularly good sign. I’m not entirely sure that he’d beat out Skylar Thompson for a QB3 role. But we’re here in the seventh round, so I guess you get what you get.
Others considered: CB Tommi Hill, Nebraska; RB Trevor Etienne, Georgia; DT Cam Jackson, Florida; RB Brashard Smith, SMU
Round 7 Pick No. 249: RB Marcus Yarns, Delaware
Cordarrelle Patterson was the worst primary kickoff returner in the league this year, and I highly doubt he’ll be back for that role in 2025. He was fine as a running back, but will the Steelers want to spent several million on an aging third-string back? I think I’d rather have Yarns, who has breakaway speed and looked extremely shifting in receiving drills, repeatedly taking the ankles of linebackers and safeties tasked to defend him. Yarns was a punt returner, not a kickoff returner, at Delaware, but I’m willing to make a projection here for the Steelers, especially just making a mock draft from Senior Bowl players.
Others considered: CB Brandon Adams, UCF; OLB Oluwafemi Oladejo, UCLA; RB Jarquez Hunter, Auburn, RB Donovan Edwards, Michigan, RB LeQuunt Allen, Syracuse, TE Gavin Bartholomew, Pitt; QB Seth Henigan, Memphis