INDIANAPOLIS -- Needs at two positions across the offensive line could bring the Steelers back to familiar territory come April's NFL Draft.
It worked in last year's draft when Omar Khan pulled the strings for a trade-up to the 14th overall selection for Broderick Jones, the heralded Georgia tackle who ended up starting in 11 games as a rookie.
There are two more Bulldogs coming through this draft process at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis who would immediately address positions of need in Pittsburgh. Given the affinity for Georgia players from Mike Tomlin over the last couple of drafts with George Pickens, Darnell Washington, and Jones, it's easy to make a connection that Pittsburgh would have interest in Georgia tackle Amarius Mims and center Sedrick Van Pran throughout this process.
If one -- or both -- is selected, it would keep a pipeline going that has already paid off for the Steelers.
"Brod was a great teammate," Mims said. "He helped me more off the field than on the field. He's a year older than me so he's been showing me the ropes longer than I have. He didn't have to, but he took time to show me little things like watching film, how to break down film, how to turn the switch on and off, when to be serious and when you can actually have a little fun. I'm very thankful to Broderick and those times he spent with me."
Mims and Van Pran each confirmed they met with the Steelers formally this week in Indianapolis, so the interest at this stage is clearly there. Mims is the 23rd overall player and the fifth-rated tackle on Pro Football Focus' big board, while Van Pran is rated 87th overall and third among centers.
Mims profiles as a true right tackle and would allow for the Steelers to slide Jones back over to his natural side. There is a clear need for a true left tackle after Dan Moore Jr's plethora of struggles and moving Jones back to his natural side is something that Khan spoke of as something that is bound to happen.
"I've said this before. Versatility on the offensive line's important, and he proved that he could play right tackle," Khan said Thursday. "But he was drafted to play left tackle and eventually he will be a left tackle. When that is, time will tell, but he was drafted to be a left tackle."
That doesn't lock the Steelers into looking exclusively at right tackles in free agency and the draft, but there is a pattern to follow with the formal meetings with three prominent right tackles in this draft. The Steelers also met formally with Alabama right tackle JC Latham in Indianapolis, though he is projected to be selected well before the Steelers' pick at 20th overall. They also formally met with Notre Dame right tackle Blake Fisher here.
At 6-foot-7 and 340 pounds, Mims is projected as a consensus first-rounder via the Mock Draft Database. Some mock drafts have Mims as a selection by the Steelers at 20th overall, including from the NFL Network's Bucky Brooks. He underwent tightrope surgery on his ankle midseason and re-injured it in the SEC Championship Game, but he is fully healed for this week's Combine.
"I feel like Georgia's the best college institute in the country and I feel like they prepared me and my teammates here more than anybody else in the country," Mims said. "The hard coaching -- the coaching staff we've got is the best in the country. I strongly feel that's true. It's just teaching you how to grow up before your time and I had to do that real quick."
With Jones and Washington serving as two main blockers within the running game, Mims said that made his job easier at Georgia. Mims would later go on to shoot down the notion that Washington could play tackle, though, as he considered Washington to be a "great" tight end.
"I would look beside me and (Washington) was my size," Mims said. "No many tight ends are the size of offensive tackles. He made my job way easier."
Van Pran was a first-team All-American and first-team All-SEC center in 2023. at 6-foot-4 and 310 pounds, PFF graded his pass blocking slightly higher than his run blocking from his junior season. He accepted an invite to the Senior Bowl but did not attend.
Though Khan spoke of Nate Herbig's ability to play the position, the Steelers are in need of a starting-caliber center after releasing Mason Cole. That leaves the door wide open for the Steelers to address the position in the draft or free agency, and Van Pran is among those candidates.
"I think that I have the capabilities through God to play all schemes," Van Pran said. "Gap, zone, whatever a team needs me to do. I think my best intangibles are definitely being smart, being quick, being able to hold point."
The Steelers gave a heavy look to Oregon center Jackson Powers-Johnson at the Senior Bowl, though Powers-Johnson said the Steelers did not formally meet with him in Indianapolis. West Virginia center Zach Frazier also said the Steelers did not meet with him in Indianapolis. Powers-Johnson is 17th overall and top-rated center on PFF's big board. Frazier is the 34th overall prospect.
That turns some more attention to Van Pran, who said he spoke to Jones in his pre-draft process.
"Just making sure I take advantage of m opportunities. That was the biggest thing," Van Pran said of Jones' advice. "Just trying to tell me some of the hiccups and things that he may have come across to try to avoid to make sure I can have the ultimate success for myself."
The Mock Draft Database shows the Steelers as a suitor for Van Pran. His consensus projection comes in the third round, though he could be an option for the Steelers at pick No. 51 in the second round.
"I think it would be a great fit, for sure," Van Pran said. "Being back with some of the guys from Georgia, being able to click with those guys, it would be amazing. A lot of chemistry there so it would definitely be something I would look forward to, trying to keep building that culture up over there because they have a great, historical program."
