Pittsburgh Steelers 7-round 2024 NFL Mock Draft after Russell Wilson, Patrick Queen moves
The Steelers prioritize the offensive line in this 7-Round 2024 NFL Mock Draft after landing Russell Wilson and Patrick Queen.
By Sam Penix
The Pittsburgh Steelers aren't usually a team to make a splash in free agency, but they've done just that over the first few days by signing quarterback Russell Wilson, linebacker Patrick Queen, and trading away wide receiver Dionate Johnson. These big moves will certainly affect the Steelers' draft plans, so let's take a look at how things could shake out for them now with this Pittsburgh 7-round 2024 NFL Mock Draft.
We'll be using NFL Mock Draft Database's simulator for this mock, and there will be no trades this time (hint hint).
Round 1, Pick 20 - Jackson Powers-Johnson, C, Oregon
Centers normally aren't top-20 picks, but prospects like Powers-Johnson don't come around very often. At 6-foot-3 328 pounds, his only physical limitation is his short 32.25-inch arms, but that's a weakness he more than overcame in college, and can do so in the NFL as well. Powers-Johnson is athletic, powerful, and smart, and has all the makings to be one of the league's premier centers for the next decade.
He has experience at both center and guard (and even played right tackle in 2022, but lacks the measurements to play there in the pros), but would likely step in and start at center for Pittsburgh as soon as he's drafted. The Steelers aren't exactly invested in Russell Wilson financially given his contract situation with his former employer, the Denver Broncos, but they are tying their hopes to him for at least the 2024 campaign, and they'll want to protect him because of that.
Mason Cole had a rough 2023 as the team's center, and currently Nate Herbig is penciled in as the next starter, but he hasn't taken any snaps there since 2021, and that was in a fill-in role -- Herbig is a guard, and while Powers-Johnson could also be an effective guard, the need is at center, and he would fill it. There are several different ways the Steelers could go with this pick, but if Powers-Johnson is on the board, they would have a tough time passing on him.