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Pittsburgh Steelers 2023 NFL Mock Draft: Will Anderson Joins T.J. Watt

By Jacob Schyvinck

Alabama Crimson Tide linebacker Will Anderson Jr. (31) celebrates after a defensive stop on fourth down in the second half the NCAA Playoff Semifinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic on Friday, Dec. 31, 2021, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Alabama Crimson Tide defeated Cincinnati Bearcats 27-6.Cotton Bowl Cincinnati Bearcats Alabama Crimson Tide Ac 428
Alabama Crimson Tide linebacker Will Anderson Jr. (31) celebrates after a defensive stop on fourth down in the second half the NCAA Playoff Semifinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic on Friday, Dec. 31, 2021, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Alabama Crimson Tide defeated Cincinnati Bearcats 27-6.Cotton Bowl Cincinnati Bearcats Alabama Crimson Tide Ac 428 /
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Will Anderson Jr. joins T.J. Watt to form a deadly pass rushing duo in this very early Pittsburgh Steelers 7-Round 2023 NFL Mock Draft.

Seeing the Pittsburgh Steelers at 1-4 is extremely strange. After nearly two decades of strong play, it feels like this will be the first “rebuilding” year under head coach Mike Tomlin, and the first under .500 season of his coaching career. It doesn’t mean the seat is warm for him, but it’s important to get a ton of evaluation, especially with offensive coordinator Matt Canada and the offensive line.

Kenny Pickett has already looked like a clear upgrade over Mitch Trubisky, and it’ll be fun to track his progress throughout the season. There is plenty of skill position talent in place. T.J. Watt and Minkah Fitzpatrick are the cornerstones on defense.

Pittsburgh Steelers 2023 Mock Draft: OL and Defense Upgrades

Still, it’s a team that won’t contend without upgrades along the offensive line and on the defense as a whole. That’s where potentially picking in the top five of the 2023 NFL Draft comes in. Let’s take a look at how the Pittsburgh Steelers could reload the cupboard with this 7-round 2023 NFL Mock Draft.

Round 1, 3rd Overall: Will Anderson, EDGE, Alabama

One thing has been clear with this Pittsburgh Steelers. The pass rush hasn’t been able to generate enough with Watt out. While most of that issue comes from the interior, and Alex Highsmith has been playing well, looking to edge rusher rather than defensive tackle is the premium position move to make in the first round.

With Will Anderson available, it makes things easy. Anderson had a whopping 17.5 sacks and 31 tackles for loss last season, while leading college football in pressures on third down. He’s not quite at the same pace this year (five sacks, 10 TFLs through six games) but another productive year is what NFL teams want to see. As a pass rusher, he wins with a lot of power for such a light edge defender. Still, that explosion to power conversion is effective, as is his impressive hand usage at the contact point. He could become one of the top pass rushers in the NFL very quickly and form a scary duo with Watt.

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