Pittsburgh Steelers draft grades: Big hits and big misses

The 2021 NFL Draft is officially over and the Pittsburgh Steelers have added some new additions to their roster. The biggest emphasis this draft was clear: they needed to improve the run game for they were dead last in rushing yards last season. Along with adding to the run game, they made some selections that gave some much-needed depth on defense and special teams.

Now that all the picks are official, here are this year’s grades for all the selections by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Round 1 Pick 24, Najee Harris Alabama RB: A-

With their first selection in this year’s draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted arguably the best running back in the 2021 Draft class in Alabama’s Najee Harris. In recent years with teams having multiple backs and early production of running backs from the later rounds, many say it is a waste to draft a running back in the first round.

Even though the position is so interchangeable, this selection made a lot of sense for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Najee Harris is one of a few highly rated runners in this year’s class, for it was a very thin group at the position. Also, Najee Harris brings so much to the table and made a lot of sense at 24.

Harris is a big back who stands at 6-foot-2 and weighs around 230 pounds being a mixture of power with his big frame and also having an agile style of play with his great athleticism. Harris has all the tools to be a three-down back for the Pittsburgh Steelers with solid pass-catching abilities, quick feet to make cuts to the next level, and power to shed tackles on the run.

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ running game needed some reconstruction and the Steelers got their lead back in Najee Harris making this an A- selection.

Round 2 Pick 55, Pat Freiermuth Penn State TE: C+

Many believed the Steelers’ second-round pick would be an offensive lineman. That was not the case for general manager Kevin Colbert and the Steelers for they decided to take tight end Pat Freiermuth with the 55th pick.

Freiermuth was rated by many as the second-best tight end behind Kyle Pitts and showed a lot of good production before his injury this season. Freiermuth has great catching ability but is also a solid addition to the run game in his blocking abilities.

Even though tight end didn’t seem like a need this early for the Pittsburgh Steelers, it still was a good addition to their offense. There were several centers available that made sense to take to be immediate starters, but Freiermuth does add value to the Steelers offense.

Eric Ebron is set to be a free agent next year, so Freiermuth could succeed him in being the number one tight end by 2022. Regardless this pick was not great, but also not bad for it gives Big Ben some more weapons around him. It will be interesting to see if pass protection is a problem for the Steelers next season and this pick is one to look back on to see if they made the right choice.