The NFL draft is less than a month away now and at least we have a consensus from the draft analysts. The Steelers are picking a cornerback.
A quick perusal of the mock drafts at nfl.com and nfldraftscout.com showed all nine of their draft experts had the Steelers drafting a corner. There were four votes for Clemson’s Mackensie Alexander at No. 25, three for Houston’s William Jackson III and two for Ohio State’s Eli Apple.
I had the Steelers taking a corner in my first three four-round mock drafts and I’m not changing now even though I am intrigued by Baylor defensive tackle Andrew Billings, who could immediately fill the Steelers’ need for a run-stopping interior lineman.
Here we go with mock 4.0:
(Stew Milne/Associated Press)
1. William Jackson III, cornerback, Houston. The Steelers like what they have in cornerbacks William Gay and Senquez Golson, but Gay is 5-10 and Golson 5-9. The Steelers need a taller corner to contend with the likes of A.J. Green and the other tall and athletic receivers around the league. Jackson is 6-2 and he has blazing speed (timed at 4.37 in the 40-yard dash at the combine). Before his lights-out performance at the combine Jackson was projected as a second-round pick. Now teams like the Steelers at the end of the first round are hoping he’s available for them to take.
(Matt Freed/Post-Gazette)
2. Karl Joseph, safety, West Virginia. Joseph was a four-year starter and blends a brutally physical style with some decent ball skills. The concern is his size (5-10, 205) and whether he’s susceptible to more injuries. He missed most of his senior season due to a knee injury and team medical staffs must determine if his body can stand up to his style of play. If the medical reports check out he’d be a good fit in the Steelers, who currently have Robert Golden penciled in as their starter opposite Mike Mitchell.
(Paul Vernon/Associated Press)
3. Nick Vannett, tight end, Ohio State. The Steelers have always had a strong blocking tight end and they’ll need another one to take the place of Matt Spaeth, who is 32 and entering the final year of his contract. Ladarius Green is the starter and Jesse James is a young player who showed some promise toward the end of the season. But the Steelers lost Heath Miller to retirement and don’t appear inclined to bring back Will Johnson. Adding Vannett at this point in the draft addresses a position the Steelers value and gives them some depth in case Spaeth runs into injury problems again.
(Orlin Wagner/Associated Press)
4. Hassan Ridgeway, defensive tackle, Texas. Ridgeway is hard to move and athletic enough to be a versatile lineman for coach John Mitchell. He can compete with Daniel McCullers at nose guard and has the upside to be more than that. Concerns are injury history and conditioning level at Texas. If the Steelers can extract the talent Ridgeway would be a very good pick in the fourth round.
First Published: April 8, 2016, 7:37 p.m.
