Bryan M. Bennett/Getty Images Head coach Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers looks on against the Buffalo Bills on Oct. 9, 2022.
The Pittsburgh Steelers don’t necessarily do a good job of hiding their interest in draft prospects. In 2021, for instance, 14 of 24 mock drafts correctly predicted that the Steelers would select Alabama running back Najee Harris No. 24 overall.
“Unlike the past two years, when it was apparent the Steelers were going to draft Najee and even (Kenny) Pickett, this is a harder call because they can go in several different directions,” noted longtime Steelers insider Gerry Dulac in his most recent mailbag for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
But that didn’t stop Dulac from revealing the names of several players the team may be targeting early in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Dulac Predicts the Steelers Will Select Bryan Bresee in the 1st Round
Asked about his favorite 1st-round prospects at cornerback, offensive tackle and defensive line, Dulac took the opportunity to do a little name-dropping.
“CB Kelee Ringo. T Darnell Wright. DL Bryan Bresee. I can tell you they love two of those guys,“ said Dulac.
And if there’s one player they love above the others at No. 17 overall, it might well be Bresee.
Later in the chat, Dulac predicted that the Steelers will select him with their 1st-round pick.
“Bresee isn’t your run-of-the-mill 300-pounder. He can really move and is even capable of playing outside the tackles. He came back from an ACL tear to earn a career-high 82.0 pass-rushing grade this past fall,” notes Pro Football Focus (PFF), which has the Clemson product as the 21st-best prospect in the draft, one spot ahead of Wright (Tennessee), who Michael Renner of PFF describes as “a four-year starter who finally saw the proverbial light flip on this past fall. His tape against Alabama’s Will Anderson Jr. was outstanding, as he allowed only one pressure in that game and eight for the season.”
Like Bresee and Wright, Kelee Ringo plays a position where the Steelers have a need. However, PFF isn’t as high on the Georgia cornerback, rating him as the No. 72 prospect in this draft, despite his combination of size and speed (4.36 in the 40-yard dash).
“Ringo is a mammoth cornerback at 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds. He’s built to play in a press-heavy defense on the outside. He’s just a touch inconsistent on his breaks and allowed 552 yards this past fall,” offers Renner.
Michigan’s Mazi Smith to the Steelers at No. 32 Overall?
If the Steelers don’t get a defensive lineman like Bryan Bresee in the 1st round, a name to keep in mind at the top of round 2 is Michigan defender Mazi Smith, says Dulac.
Smith is PFF’s No. 33-rated 2023 draft prospect and describes him as “a special athlete for a 337-pound nose tackle.”
Alternatively, Dulac likes center John Michael Schmitz at that spot, reiterating what he said earlier this month, when he indicated Schmitz was a player to “keep your eye on” — or at least a player for Steelers fans to keep in mind.
“Schmitz was the single highest-graded center in the FBS this past season at 92.4 overall. He’s on the bigger side for the position at 6-foot-4 and 320 pounds yet did his best work on the move in an outside-zone-heavy Minnesota scheme,” relates Renner.
Working against the idea of the Steelers drafting Schmitz is that the team doesn’t have an immediate need at center or guard, especially in light of their recent free agent acquisitions, which include guards Nate Herbig and Isaac Seumalo.