The Steelers have thrown a few curveballs this offseason so far. The return of JuJu Smith-Schuster and the likely departure of Steven Nelson are just two of the surprises that have been thrown towards the Steeler faithful over the last week. However, on the draft front, there has not been much out of the ordinary.
However, TCU’s Pro Day came with a bit of a surprise. While no prominent presence was there for the Steelers outside of Scout Kelvin Fisher, they have been showing lots of interest in standout TCU Safety and potential first-round pick Trevon Moehrig. Moehrig told Steelers Now that he has met with the Steelers and plans to meet with them more in the future.
“Yes, I have talked to the Steelers,” Moehrig said. “Like I said before, I have a couple more meetings scheduled with them too, so I’m looking forward to it.”
The interesting thing about Moehrig is that he projects not as a strong safety or even a slot cornerback, but as a single-high or free safety. The Steelers obviously have Minkah Fitzpatrick there as a mainstay. That makes their interest in Moehrig even more interesting. However, Moehrig did state he felt comfortable working in the slot.
“I definitely feel comfortable and confident playing in the slot,” Moehrig said. “Being at TCU, they put me in a lot of positions, especially coming down in the slot and covering in man. So, I feel really confident, really comfortable. They’ve shown me a lot in technique.”
Trevon Moehrig career snaps at each alignment:
In the box – 493
Slot CB – 796
Free Safety – 429 pic.twitter.com/77NshN7Z2r— PFF College (@PFF_College) February 12, 2021
Taking PFF’s charting statistics at face value here, Moehrig is obviously a chess piece. While his range, hips, and play style scream free safety, Moehrig played in a heavy match quarters scheme. That means he was forced into lots of man coverage in the slot naturally. Having played more than 300 more snaps in the slot than anywhere else, it is always possible for the Steelers to like Moehrig in the slot. That versatility was something that Moehrig wanted to show on Friday.
“I just wanted to show my versatility,” Moehrig said. “That I can communicate and process from single-high, two-high, and down the slot.”
Moehrig battled through a bad back the entire day but still finished out his testing and went through all of the position drills.
Numbers for Moehrig at #TCUProDay
33 vert
1.59 10
2.57 20
4.50 40
4.19 shuttle— Jane Slater (@SlaterNFL) March 19, 2021
Overall, those numbers are not too shabby for a guy with a bad back. So, if the Steelers select Moehrig at No. 24 what could it mean?
There is always the outside chance they view Moehrig as a slot cornerback. However, there is also the possibility that they could be viewing Minkah Fitzpatrick as a potential slot cornerback option. Before coming to Pittsburgh, Fitzpatrick was a phenomenal slot cornerback both at Alabama and in Miami. However, after his play would they really move him there?
That remains to be seen, but the Steelers’ heavy interest in Moehrig remains intriguing.
