The 2023 NFL Draft is officially in the books. After a flurry of selections from Thursday to Saturday, 259 players were selected to join the NFL.
With that, we give you our full recap of the Pittsburgh Steelers‘ draft, with analysis on every selection the team made during the weekend and an in-depth look at their top pick.
For more information on the players your favorite team drafted, it’s not too late to get the 2023 NFL Draft Guide, which includes expanded scouting reports, draft grades, offseason reports, unique advanced data, PFF grades and much more.
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2023 NFL Draft Picks
R1 (14): OT Broderick Jones, Georgia
R2 (32): CB Joey Porter Jr., Penn State
R2 (49): DI Keeanu Benton, Wisconsin
R3 (93): TE Darnell Washington, Georgia
R4 (132): EDGE Nick Herbig, Wisconsin
R7 (241): CB Cory Trice Jr., Purdue
R7 (251): OG Spencer Anderson, Maryland
Day 1: The Steelers jump up three spots, giving up a fourth-round pick to make sure they land the offensive tackle they wanted. Jones impressed as a pass-blocker in 2022, earning a 84.1 PFF pass-blocking grade and allowing just nine total pressures from 470 pass-blocking snaps.
Day 2: Pittsburgh takes PFF’s CB4 and 21st-ranked prospect to open up Day 2 of the 2023 NFL Draft. Porter wins with his length. The former Nittany Lion’s 34-inch arms make it easy to disrupt his opponent at the catch point and line of scrimmage. Porter’s 40% forced incompletion rate in 2022 led all Power Five cornerbacks.
The Steelers take a top interior defender that can line up in the A and B gaps, with the Steelers able to move Cameron Heyward, Larry Ogunjobi and Benton across the interior. Benton will help a Steelers run defense that struggled in 2022 up the middle, with a strong 10.5% run-stop win rate in 2022.
The freaky Georgia tight end’s slide is over. Pittsburgh grabs the 6-foot-8, 272-pound Darnell Washington to continue their strong 2023 NFL Draft. He has a strong resume in the ground game, as his top-five finish among Power Five tight ends in run-blocking grade in 2022 proves, and is a mismatch weapon as a receiver.
Day 3: The Steelers’ incredible draft continues. Herbig played on the edge at Wisconsin but figures to be more of a tweener in the NFL, and that’s likely why he wasn’t a higher pick. He knows how to rush the passer, though, as he won 23.9% of his pass-rushing snaps in 2022 and earned a 91.1 pass-rush grade.
Ranked 77th on PFF's big board. Price is a physically imposing corner at 6-foot-3 who is extremely aggressive at the line of scrimmage and tackles well.
Anderson is the only pick by the Steelers where the player has been outside the top 80 of the PFF big board. Anderson produced a 79.8 PFF pass-blocking grade in 2022 but struggled as a run blocker.
DRAFT GRADE: A+
Prospect Spotlight: OT Broderick Jones, Georgia
Jones is a bully of an offensive tackle. You're not going through him, you'll have to go around. He earned an 84.1 pass-blocking grade in his first full season starting at left tackle for the Bulldogs.
Strengths, weaknesses and NFL role
Where he wins: Mentality
Obviously, this is combined with some awesome raw power from the true junior, but Jones will likely go higher than his PFF grades might suggest simply because of the way he plays the game. It's easy to envision what his mentality paired with a more consistent technique could lead to.
What's his role? Tackle
There's no reason Jones can't play guard if needed, but he's going to be drafted high enough that it's probably wise to start him at tackle.
What he can improve: Hand placement
There's no doubt that Jones' hands are powerful when they do get hold of defenders, but they lack the precision for him to be a quality starter in the league at the moment. You can't just punch in the NFL; you have to latch on. And we see that too infrequently from Jones.
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