Steelers Land Highly Touted Center in Mock Draft

Despite Matt Miller of ESPN’s report that Oregon center Jackson Powers-Johnson might fall in this year’s draft, Charles Davis of NFL.com still envisions Powers-Johnson being a first-round pick. He has the highly touted Oregon center going to the Pittsburgh Steelers at 20th overall in his latest mock draft.

Powers-Johnson is a popular potential first-round pick candidate for the Steelers, along with Georgia offensive tackle Amarius Mims. Both have been linked to the Steelers in numerous mock drafts.

“I had the Steelers taking an offensive tackle in the first round for the second straight year in my last mock (Broderick Jones was the pick in 2023), but a chance to get the best center in the draft is hard to pass up,” Davis wrote.

Steelers offensive line coach Pat Meyer travelled to Eugene for Oregon pro day to watch Powers-Johnson, according to Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy. Head coach Mike Tomlin and general manager Omar Khan were not in attendance, which usually is a sign for future Steelers first-round picks.

But Powers-Johnson was put through his drills by Meyer. In the past, that has been a sign of the team going after someone in the class. This was the case for George Pickens, Joey Porter Jr., and others on the team in the past.

It’s rare for a center to go in the first round, but Powers-Johnson has played himself into legitimate first-round hype. His movement skills for someone of his size, over 330 pounds, are so rare. And yet, he has only started for one legitimate season. For someone that inexperienced at center to play the way he did speaks to coaching and the rare player, he is coming out of college.

On his lone day at the Senior Bowl, Powers-Johnson showcased elite core strength and even reset his hands twice after getting beat initially underneath his pads. But he is a former wrestler and understands how to maximize leverage and win at the point of attack. It should be no surprise that he has already made a name for himself.