Pittsburgh Steelers 7-round Mock Draft: Mike Tomlin gets another gem at cornerback

The Pittsburgh Steelers ended the regular season on a hot streak winning their last three games of the season. However, they didn’t make it far in the playoffs losing to the Buffalo Bills 31-17 in the opening round.

This offseason the Steelers have several areas they will need to address in order to make a deeper run next season. This starts with upgrading an offense that only average 17.8 points per game and also featured one of the worst passing games in the league.

On the defensive side of the ball, they will need to find someone to play opposite of Joey Porter Jr., who was one of the better picks in the 2023 NFL Draft. In this mock draft, they start by taking one of the more underrated corners in the 2024 NFL Draft, and someone who could have an impact similar to Porter’s last season.

Pittsburgh Steelers Mock Draft

The Pittsburgh Steelers struck gold last year when they took Joey Porter Jr. with the first pick in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Porter allowed -16.0 target EPA last season and only allowed just one touchdown pass. However, the other corner spot is wide open and the Steelers have already had several meetings with the top cornerbacks in the 2024 NFL Draft.

One of the cornerbacks they met with is Kool-Aid McKinstry of Alabama, who happens to be my highest-rated cornerback in the 2024 NFL Draft. The reason I am so high on McKinstry is his consistent play which saw him limit teams to a 32.1 percent completion percentage this season, and be named an All-American each of the past two seasons. He will likely still be available when Pittsburgh picks as well, since some teams have concerns about his speed which was also a concern with Porter going into last year’s draft.