Three days before the 2023 NFL Draft kicks off from Kansas City, Mo., Omar Khan thoroughly acknowledged the deep pool of players to pick from in several positions for the Steelers.
But, at the same time, he didn't seem all too pressured to be so calculated as to be forced to make a rash, do-or-die move when discussing the upcoming event Monday on the South Side.
In order, coincidence or not, Khan noted depth at defensive line, offensive line, cornerback, outside linebacker, quarterback, tight end and wide receiver. The Steelers are out of the quarterback market, obviously, but the order in which he brought up those positions -- with Mike Tomlin interjecting regarding the tight end position -- stands out as the Steelers hold picks No. 17, 32, and 49 within the top 50 of the three-day event.
"We just feel really good about the talent, really, at every position," Khan said in his and Tomlin's 30-minute press conference at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex.
Just as there is talent depth at the respective positions of need for the Steelers, there are also needs which ... need ... to be addressed.
The offseason was kind to the Steelers, with seven positions addressed via signings and, most recently, the acquisition of wide receiver Allen Robinson II from the Rams Friday. As a result of Khan's proactiveness in free agency and within the scouting circuit during the offseason, Tomlin went on to note the Steelers do not have any "glaring" needs heading into Thursday.
"We took every opportunity that was at our disposal to beat the bushes and engage with these guys, and I think that's why we feel comfortable about where we are," Tomlin said. "There's still some more work ahead of us, there's still some continual discussions that need to be had, and that will be ongoing, but the work that we've done, the position that we're in right now in terms of the information that we have, and, obviously, we've been able to do some things in free agency that I really feel like provides a clean slate for us from a draft perspective. We don't have any glaring needs, and so we're able to look at the board in totality and not be swayed inappropriately in any specific way."
The difference between a "glaring need" and a plain-old "need" is clearly subjective in this case, but it's not hard to spot the areas in which Khan and Co. can and will target for improvement this weekend.
The offensive line still can use an upgrade, the secondary feels incomplete, and the screws can be tightened at the linebacker, tight end, and wide receiver spots. The same spots which Khan specifically mentioned Monday.
Of course, neither of Tomlin nor Khan tipped their hands on specifics about picks No. 17 or 32, but the ideas of what was going to be done with those picks came into some light.
That includes the prospects of what to do with No. 32, the first choice to open Day 2 of the event on Friday. The Steelers are in position to take a full night to analyze what is left on the board and, with respect to the teams picking behind them, can choose to either hold firm and make a choice in that slot, trade back into the first round during Thursday's event, or trade down while acquiring more capital as Friday's festivities kick off.
"We're excited about it, man," Tomlin said about the 32nd pick. "We've been talking about it. I think the thing that we're least familiar with, about it, is the amount of calls that we will be or could be getting, and that's what we've spent our time is just talking about how do we organize and how do we get prepared for the receiving in the amount of interest that that pick could have, and that's a good and exciting possibility for us."
So, just based on that, it at least seems like the Steelers are open for business on pick No. 32, all while maintaining a low amount of pressure to actually move away from it.
"I'll say this: Before Thursday, we will have been in contact with all 31 teams," Khan said. "I wouldn't say we're there just yet."
Added Tomlin: "I think that's what's exciting about, you mention 32, being in that position, we're acknowledging we're not quarterback shopping and that position might be one that attracts quarterback shoppers, and so it's exciting to see what might transpire in some of those phone calls and the value that we might be able to get. It is a unique position for us to be in, and we are very excited about it."
MORE FROM THE SOUTH SIDE
• Cornerback was a specific position discussed by Khan, as the depth at the position within the draft runs with at least a handful of projected (read: "mocked") first-round prospects. The Steelers brought in Patrick Peterson as a free agent for the position, but that also comes with the loss of Cam Sutton and nothing else to help remedy the No. 20-ranked pass defense in football.
More specifically, Tomlin was asked about the idea of scouting and potential of drafting Penn State's Joey Porter Jr. in the first round.
"There's guys in every draft, particularly in recent years that I have similar background with," Tomlin said. "Maybe they're Pittsburgh guys, maybe they're in a similar age group of my sons. The Skyy Moore discussion a season ago, (Damar Hamlin), and the guys that played next door (at Pitt). All the 412s, because I've been a part of this community so long I've essentially watched those generation of guys grow up. I've seen them play little league football, I've seen them play high school football, I've probably met them at some point during their development because guys like me meet talented, young athletes. It's not as unique as you would like to make it, I'm sure you're going to make it, but there's a handful of those guys for a variety of reasons, particularly in recent years, as I mentioned, that kind of make that less relevant and less significant story from my perspective."
• Tomlin was asked about, as it was worded, "position-less" football, and particularly on the defensive side of the ball.
Here is Tomlin's response, in full:
"You know, I go the other way," he said. "As opposed to calling it 'position-less,' I think there's just more 'specialization.' Positions that we didn't necessarily identify as positions years ago are very specific roles. I think the nickel, the interior (cornerback) is a position in today's game. The dime linebacker or the passing linebacker or the passing-situations linebacker, for example, is a really specific position in today's game. There's interior rushers. Those guys oftentimes play on the edge on run downs. It's a highly specialized game today, and so in one vain I think you can call it 'position-less.' I think you can go in the other direction and say that it's very 'specialized.' I know what you mean. It's a discussion, certainly."
• Khan and Tomlin acknowledged the pre-draft process as a thorough one, with the in-person visits coupled by virtual chats over Zoom.
For those keeping track, Khan mentioned scouting "several players" at the Hula Bowl, followed by the "40 to 50 players, formally, and another 20 to 30 players -- probably more than that -- informally" he talked to at the Senior Bowl. Then came 45 visits and a "handful of other informal visits" with players at the NFL Combine, the "really productive" hammering of the pro day circuit, and then the 30 formal visits hosted on the South Side.
And, to wrap up the pre-draft visits ...
"The last few days we've been doing a lot of Zoom calls, trying to be diligent and get to know as many of these guys as possible," Khan added.
Tomlin acknowledged some of the procedures followed during the scouting process brought by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 have blended in with the way information is gathered on prospects today.
"Now that we're on the other side of COVID, it's like, almost, being able to couple those techniques with some traditional ones," Tomlin said. "It's good to get back on the pro day circuits and see these guys in their college environments and the information that you get from that. The interactions that you get firsthand with them in a Combine-like setting or in Mobile (Alabama, at the Senior Bowl), it's good to get the post-COVID normalcy in terms of some of those things, but then you couple that with the techniques that we were able to develop during COVID in an effort to get information, whether it's doing research regarding medical information on those that you don't get an opportunity to get firsthand interaction with, or the utilization of Zooms as a tool to further get to know someone. It just feels good in the post-COVID world to use some of those tools along with traditional ones in an effort to have a high floor of readiness, and I just think that's why we feel really comfortable."
