Steelers Draft Digest: Darnell Wright Lands in Mock, Skoronski to Guard?

The Steelers draft brass lands an interesting tackle prospect in a mock draft while Peter Skoronski’s position is up for NFL Draft debate.

: In Daniel Jeremiah’s second mock draft of the draft season, he has the Steelers addressing the offensive line. But it is not the tackle you probably expect. Instead, the Steelers land Tennessee OT Darnell Wright, and Jeremiah gave an interesting explanation.

“Wright’s a plug-and-play right tackle for an offensive line that needs to be overhauled to protect last year’s first-round pick, Kenny Pickett.”

That would make for an interesting fit. Would Wright train at right tackle or would the Steelers move Chuks Okorafor back to the left side? It could be something to watch, but there is reported interest from the Steelers in Wright, so the pick could be something that happens.

: According to Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy, scouts are buzzing about Kansas State cornerback Julius Brents after his standout performance at the Senior Bowl a few weeks ago. The 6-foot-3 cornerback has elite length, and that could be a key boost to his draft stock over the coming weeks. I was particularly impressed by how he used his length and press coverage. Oftentimes, he stifled receivers to the point where balls were either hail-mary attempts or just outright not thrown at all.

Over the weekend, I highlighted Brents and why it could be part of the Steelers draft plans upcoming in the 2023 NFL Draft. His length, intelligence, and versatility are a glove-like fit within the scheme that Pittsburgh runs and what they look for in their outside cornerbacks.

: Could Northwestern star OT Peter Skoronski be looking at a switch to guard? That is something that has been thrown around. Dane Brugler labeled Skoronski as a guard and offensive tackle in his recent rankings. Meanwhile, Brandon Thron loves Skoronski’s game but compared him to the Chiefs’ Joe Thuney in terms of the type of player he is potentially at the next level.

This is something to watch, especially with the Steelers seemingly being in a spot to draft the best trench player available. If Skoronski is there, he is almost certainly going to be that guy.

: Meanwhile, PFF ranked their Top 10 quarterbacks in the 2023 NFL Draft. While the Steelers have met with plenty of guys so far in the process, none of them actually appear on this list. Hendon Hooker is at No. 6 with Clayton Tune and Jake Haener rounding out the list. This could be a sleeper pick that maybe interests the Steelers, but it is more likely to be through the undrafted free agent.

: Todd McShay mocked the Steelers Christian Gonzalez, another top cornerback, but this time, out of Oregon. That comes as a little surprising given the location of where the Steelers usually try and draft from, however, Gonzalez was up there as the best player available with most of the top offensive linemen gone. Could he land with the Steelers? It is possible, and he certainly will land with all the measurements that they will love to have in their cornerbacks.