Steelers Draft Digest: Steelers Love Mazi Smith, Schmitz Top 30 Visit

The Steelers draft brass sets their fifth Top-30 visit while Mike Tomlin and staff show plenty of love to one particular prospect at Michigan Pro Day.

: According to Stadium the Steelers are one of three known teams to have a Top-30 visit scheduled with Minnesota stand-out John Michael Schmitz. They met with him formally at the NFL Combine and the Senior Bowl, so this continues the trend of visits and interests in the massive guard who can play guard or center on the interior, and it seems they want to find someone they view as nasty.

With the five of Pittsburgh’s known Top-30 visits already shown, four of them are on either the defensive or offensive line. It seems Pittsburgh is bent on improving its offensive line, whether that be through free agency, the NFL Draft, or some combination of both.

: The Steelers draft brass hit the road hard on Friday. It was not just Mike Tomlin that went to Michigan, but Omar Khan and Alfredo Roberts, too. It is a yearly trip for Pittsburgh, but not too surprising with Luke Schoomaker as a standout tight end in Michigan. However, there are plenty of others to look out for as well at Michigan Pro Day, like Mazi Smith on the defensive side of the ball and the blazing-fast cornerback D.J. Turner, who ran a sub-4.3 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine.

: However, there is one specific player from that pro day that the Steelers look like they are honing in on more than most. According to Tony Pauline of Pro Football Network, the Steelers were locked into standout defensive tackle Mazi Smith. Tomlin and the staff dined with him prior to the pro day, gaining a familiar. In fact, there were two visits that Tomlin had with Smith this week.

However, Pauline dropped this bombshell, stating that Smith could be a guy in-play for the Steelers at 17, and that they may prefer him over Clemson standout Bryan Bresee.

“The sense I’m getting is the Steelers would select Smith over Bryan Breese of Clemson if, in fact, it is a battle between the two at pick No. 17. Pittsburgh would prefer Smith’s rough-and-tumble style over the finesse Breese brings,” Pauline wrote.

: The Steelers lost a 2024 compensatory pick by signing Patrick Peterson after losing Cam Sutton. However, they can easily gain it back with some other losses, but they should still be plenty active in free agency, so the question of whether they will have a compensatory pick still seems to be up in the air. In addition, they are indirect cancellations according to Nick Korte, meaning they are across different rounds.

🏈: Star cornerback Devon Witherspoon out of Illinois did not participate in the pro day for the Fighting Illini today after suffering a hamstring injury in NFL Combine training. That leaves Witherspoon with his own personal workout date on the 6th of April, where teams will get to see the star workout and test on his own. However, until then, they will go without those numbers.