Tomlin: Chuks Okorafor Would Be Steelers’ Current Starting Left Tackle
PITTSBURGH — Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin isn’t a fan of April depth charts.
He made that clear on Monday during his pre-draft press conference, when asked about who his starting left tackle would be if the Steelers had to play a game right now.
“You know, depth charts this time of year are funny: They don’t mean anything,” Tomlin said. “They’re not worth the paper they’re written on.”
But he did answer the question, saying that Chukwuma Okorafor would be the team’s starting left tackle as the Steelers enter the draft.
Okorafor has generally been seen as a better fit on the left side since the Steelers drafted him in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft. But his first big opportunity came in 2020, when he filled in for injured Zach Banner at right tackle and made 15 regular season starts.
But with starting left tackle Alejandro Villanueva likely to move on in free agency and Banner returning, Okorafor will return to the left side — at least for now.
Tomlin isn’t a fan of making that kind of decision in April.
“Chuks will be the guy that’s probably penciled in in late April at left tackle,” he said. “But it means absolutely nothing. And quote me on that.”
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