As we all know, there was a time when Mike Tomlin’s historical consistency (“He’s never had a losing season!”) was seen as his ticket to Canton.
Now, after four straight “meh” seasons and three first-round playoff ejections, the mood seems to be, “He’s never had a losing season, but so what?”
Fair enough. The clear sticking point since Ben Roethlisberger’s salad days has been the quarterback position, and you can’t blame the team for trying to mitigate that damage in the short term with the possibility of Good Aaron Rodgers. Of course, that involves waiting for Rodgers’ Ivermectin/Ayahuasca cocktail to kick in to the point where he actually makes a decision about his NFL future. The diva soprano will most likely keep everyone on the hook for as long as possible regarding that.
There’s also the unfortunate fact that Aaron Rodgers hasn’t really been Good Aaron Rodgers since the 2021 season, which has to be a bit off-putting when you’re talking about a guy who will turn 42 on Dec. 2.
At best, Rodgers is a short-term solution for a Steelers team in obvious need of more juice in the passing game. At worst, he’s not in the eventual picture, or he’s the franchise’s latest mistake at the sport’s most important position.
With all that in mind, and given the other needs the Steelers have to fill if they want to get out of their current Rut of Respectability, here’s one seven-round mock (using the PFF Mock Draft Simulator) that might just fill a lot of those holes, and make Mike Tomlin’s winning history an actual thing that matters again.
(All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus, Sports Info Solutions, and NFL+).
Round 1
1.21 Shedeur Sanders, QB, Colorado
So, the Steelers are left with two possibilities here. A future with or without Aaron Rodgers. Blah blah blah.
Either way, obviously, they need a young quarterback to develop. Where I think Shedeur Sanders comes in as a prospect with unusual upside is that Colorado’s offense gave him very little to work with. We all know about the protection issues (Sanders was pressured 203 times in the 2024 season with 40 sacks), but this was also not a modern NFL offense.
Sanders wasn’t given the benefit of route concepts that predicate designed openings.There was very little in the way of pre-snap motion, or play-action, or condensed formations – the stuff you see in any professional system. Yes, it’s hard to set any of that up when your quarterback is running for his life in 0.2 seconds after the snap, but that’s the way it was. Sanders’ worst trait – drifting to his left in the pocket – came about in part because he was tethered to the pocket a lot of times when he shouldn’t have been. Even when pressured, Sanders was one of the NCAA”s better quarterbacks last season. He completed 76 of 138 passes when disrupted for 1,117 yards, 12 touchdowns, five interceptions, and a passer rating of 95.6.
If you put Sanders in an offense that uses these schematic additions to amplify what he does have on the ball, the returns could be very good. Ideally, he’s a point guard with an above-average arm (the noodle-arm myth doesn’t show up on tape, though he’s not Josh Allen or anything) who can command an offense. It would require Arthur Smith to put a few more colors in the playbook, but after last season, I’m estimating that Smith would be quite happy to do that for the right reasons.
Shedeur Sanders with route concepts beyond four verts and “Throw the screen before you get killed” is an interesting NFL proposition. pic.twitter.com/cGOb6Gy7TW
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) April 14, 2025
Round 3
3.83 Jalen Royals, WR, Utah State
At this point, Pittsburgh has both D.K. Metcalf and George Pickens on the roster, which is pretty interesting. Their route profiles are alarmingly similar. Both receivers lead with go routes, with quick hitch routes as the secondary part of the structure. Both are targeted a ton on those deep passes to the boundary, and we already know that with Pickens, those moonballs give results from spectacular to invisible. Metcalf ran more corner routes last season while the Steelers had Pickens running more posts, but overall, this is now a passing game with two receivers with not only physical profiles that match up, but also utilizations that align in unusual ways for two guys on the same team.
Beyond that, there’s waterbug Calvin Austin, with a route profile that’s about equally horizontal and vertical, and some depth guys who may or may not add a few things. What this offense needs is a receiver who can do all the little things well, controlling the nuances, while Metcalf and Pickens do their own things. The addition of Utah State’s Jalen Royals could give them exactly that kind of receiver.
Last season, the 6’0, 205-pound Royals caught 55 passes on 81 targets for 839 yards and six touchdowns in an injury-shortened season. Royals missed the last five games of the year with a foot injury, but when on the field, he was his quarterback’s best friend. Through the eight weeks he did play, Royals ranked fifth in the FBS in catches, and third in yards. This is a volume target who gets all those opportunities because he understands the position.
The Aggies gave Royals a massive helping of hitch routes – it was kind of hilarious – but when challenged with more interesting concepts, he answered the bell. Royals was targeted just 12 times on passes of 20 or more air yards last season, catching seven, but he still managed 14 explosive catches. And while Royals has a very good sense of how to get open in space, he’s also not shy at all about making the contested catch.
The Steelers are already packed with fireworks at the receiver position. Jalen Royals adds an element of consistency that may not explode off the tape, but is required on every Sunday, Monday, and Thursday.
Utah State's Jalen Royals won't blow you away with downfield explosive ability, but he's got just about everything else. Keen sense of how to get and stay open, and he's super-tough over the middle. NFL teams that live between the hashes in the pass game should love him. pic.twitter.com/WA74X4YJEz
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) March 26, 2025
Round 4
4.123 Nohl Williams, CB, Cal
When Mike Tomlin and Teryl Austin selected Penn State’s Joey Porter Jr. and Purdue’s Cory Trice in the 2023 draft, they made it abundantly clear in both word and deed that they wanted more cornerbacks who could play press-man and press-match coverage. The idea was to get guys who could get in the faces of opposing receivers and work them through any route from the word “go.”
It’s worked out well with Porter, of course. Injuries have scuttled Trice’s NFL time so far, so the decision to sign Darius Slay to a one-year, $10 million contract was right in line with what Tomlin and Austin clearly want from their cornerbacks. Slay has been a great press cornerback since Moses wore short pants, and he was also crucial to the development of the Eagles’ young cornerbacks last season.
So, let’s give Coach Slay another guy to help develop. I’ve been paying special attention to prospects who play press-match well, because it’s where the NFL is going, and I am a very big fan of Cal’s Nohl Williams. Overall last season, the 6’1, 200-pound Williams allowed 31 catches on 65 targets for 350 yards, 103 yards after the catch, three touchdowns, seven interceptions, nine pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 40.3. He was targeted 38 times when in press coverage, allowing just 17 catches.
Williams needs to refine his catch-point coverage at times, which is where the touchdowns allowed come in, but overall, he has all the attributes to do what the Steelers want from their outside guys, and sooner rather than later.
If I'm calling the shots for a press-heavy team like the Chiefs, Bills (don't laugh, it's about to happen) or Lions, I want Cal CB Nohl Williams on that wall. Some will ding him for a lack of long speed, but when you can press and match like this, I'm in. pic.twitter.com/YW0TrRD8D3
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) April 17, 2025
Round 5
5.156 Corey Kiner, RB, Cincinnati
Jaylen Warren can be a rolling ball of butcher knives, to borrow one of my favorite football expressions. Kenneth Gainwell can be a good hybrid receiving back. And the Steelers proved with the first-round selection of Najee Harris in 2021 that they’re perfectly fine with high-floor, sustaining running backs who will get you five yards when the play is blocked for four. Not that Harris always did that, but that was the idea.
Watching Cory Kiner’s tape is a uniquely satisfying experience if you like running backs who take tackling attempts personally, and would rather dish out the pain than take it. Last season for the Bearcats, the 5’9, 210-pound Kiner gained 1,147 yards and scored four touchdowns on 204 attempts. If you’re worried about the lack of touchdowns for a power back, consider that Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby got more red-zone rushing attempts than Kiner did. I don’t have any issue projecting Kiner as a better red-zone back in the NFL.
Kiner forced 82 missed tackles on those 204 attempts, and he also had 21 runs of 15 or more yards, so this isn’t just a plodding power guy. He’s not an explosive back per se, which is why he might fall this far in a loaded class, but the positive aspects of Kiner’s skill set just scream “Steelers!” in an old-school sense.
Remember when the great philosopher @MoneyLynch
told us that the key to everything was to run through a motherbleeper's face, and then you don't have to worry about him no more?
Cincinnati RB Corey Kiner was clearly paying attention. 82 forced missed tackles last season. pic.twitter.com/yvcp1pnFlM
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) April 4, 2025
Round 6
6.185 Logan Brown, OT, Kansas
Generally speaking, when you have a player who leads the NFL in a statistical category, it’s a good thing. But that’s not true when we’re talking about offensive linemen. The Steelers know this full well, because in the 2024 season, they had the two offensive tackles who led the NFL in sacks allowed – Dan Moore with 12, and Broderick Jones with 11. Moore took himself to Tennessee with a four-year, $82 million contract with $50 million guaranteed (go figure), so the plan now is apparently to move Jones to left tackle and hope that Troy Fautanu is healthy enough to exceed the 55 snaps he had in his rookie season on the right side.
There are castles made of sand with that plan, obviously – and there could well be a need in the building to draft for depth beyond all that. Kansas’ Logan Brown allowed no sacks, no quarterback hits, and six quarterback hurries last season in 293 pass-blocking reps, and he’s also powerful as a run-blocker at 6’6 and 311 pounds. He has been primarily a right tackle, though there are 185 left tackle snaps to watch in his collegiate career.
Brown will need coaching when it comes to leverage and technique, but you don’t generally get ready-made offensive tackles in the sixth round. And there will be questions about his dismissal from Wisconsin in 2022 following an “internal incident” – per The Athletic’s Dane Brugler, Brown punched a teammate during practice, and interim head coach Jim Leonhard wasn’t having it. But over time, Brown could take the tools that made him a five-star recruit and become a legitimate NFL tackle. And that’s something the Steelers can’t be entirely sure about when it comes to their depth chart.
Kansas RT Logan Brown is an interesting guy. Attack-dog blocker (maybe don't hit your teammates in practice, tho) with a functional kick-step and the ability to knock edge guys off the map. Needs some work with leverage, but when the power is there, it's really there. pic.twitter.com/T4nNRnERy7
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) April 20, 2025
Round 7
7.229 Smael Mondon Jr., LB, Georgia
The Steelers stole Patrick Queen away from the Ravens last offseason with a three-year, $41 million deal with $13.84 million guaranteed. The results were decent, but as Queen has been a spiky player throughout his career; maybe he’ll come back hard in his second Steel City season. In any event, with Elandon Roberts off to the Raiders, there’s not a ton of starting-level depth behind Queen and Payton Wilson, who is the obvious force multiplier at the position.
If the Steelers would enjoy another athletic linebacker with tons of potential over time, Georgia’s Smael Mondon Jr. might be an ideal fit. In his fourth season with the Bulldogs, the 6’2, 224-pound Mondon had four sacks, 15 total pressures, 38 solo tackles, 23 stops, and he allowed 11 catches on 15 targets for 74 yards, 53 yards after the catch, no touchdowns, no interceptions, one pass breakup, and an opponent passer rating of 83.8. This despite a foot injury that cost him four games.
Mondon could fall this far because of injury concerns over time, and his size profile isn’t for every NFL team. But this is a guided missile on the field who puts everything possible behind the idea of flying to the ball at all times. That will lead to plays in which he resembles a sprinting cat on a freshly-waxed kitchen floor, but when he’s on point, Mondon can be an absolute bomber at linebacker depth to the defensive line.
Georgia LB Smael Mondon Jr. has tape that has me laughing with delight, because the dude is a terrier out there. If he can get his tackling technique and his coverage landmarks together, he could be an ideal nickel linebacker at the NFL level. pic.twitter.com/goB4mMe16z
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) April 20, 2025
Do you love this mock draft? Hate it? What would you do differently? Scroll down to the comments and let us know.
