3 players Pittsburgh Steelers need to target in 2021 NFL Draft

Bud Dupree’s ACL tear may have made a potentially difficult offseason decision a lot easier for the Steelers. After franchising the edge rusher last offseason, it seems unlikely they will try to sign him to a lucrative deal coming off a major injury in a year where the cap looks set to shrink.

Alex Highsmith’s emergence since Dupree went down should also make the idea of parting with Dupree more palatable for the Steelers, but he remains a talent worth looking to replace in the draft.

The Steelers’ pass rush would likely still be formidable going forward if it were led by T.J. Watt and Highsmith. Yet the draft is as much about building on your strengths as it is about addressing weaknesses, and the Steelers could do that in a big way by adding Ossai to their edge-rushing ranks.

Ossai uses his length and explosiveness to make plays in the backfield and has shown a knack for taking the ball away. He had two interceptions and a forced fumble in 2019 and registered three forced fumbles in his senior season.

The sack numbers – 11.5 in three seasons – may not quite be at the level expected of a first-round edge rusher. However, Ossai – who had 30 tackles for loss in his Longhorns career – has the talent to learn from Watt and start padding those numbers significantly at the highest level.