Pittsburgh Steelers full 2019 NFL mock draft
The departures of Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown surprisingly won’t impact the Steelers draft plans that much. Here’s a full 7-round mock for Pittsburgh.
The challenge for the Steelers in 2019 is very straightforward. Head coach Mike Tomlin will be expected to preside over a relatively drama free season that ends in a return to the postseason for Pittsburgh. The team’s ability to nail April’s draft will go a long way towards determining whether or not the Steelers can really return to the playoffs.
On the surface you might expect the Antonio Brown trade or Le’Veon Bell’s free agency departure to really impact the team’s philosophy heading into the draft. In actuality, neither move really moves the needle. The Steelers played all of last season without Bell and managed just fine at running back. They might want a more dynamic guy to pair with James Conner, but don’t expect any splashy draft move for a rusher.
At the wide receiver spot, the Steelers are content to head into next season with JuJu Smith-Schuster on one side and James Washington on the other. Again, they might draft a receiver to add depth to the roster, but it won’t happen early in the draft.
The Steelers’ top need continues to be finding a competent corner back who can hold up in single coverage. Expect the front office to address that need in round 1.
Round 1: Byron Murphy
In our original Steelers mock, we had them taking Greedy Williams here. The former LSU star didn’t have a perfect combine, but he ran well enough to solidify his status in the middle of the first round. In other words, Pittsburgh won’t have the chance to take him at No. 20.
Instead, we’re giving them Byron Murphy in this spot this time around. He arguably had one of the best workouts for a corner in Indianapolis. His athletic testing answered any questions people might have had about his tape at Washington.
Perhaps more importantly, he really strikes us as a guy Tomlin would love to coach. He’s a hard-nosed defensive back who should really help Pittsburgh immediately. Some might call taking Murphy this high as a slight reach, but we think it’s solid value at the Steelers’ most significant position of need.