May 2, 2025 5 min read

By Dale Lolley

For the Observer-Reporter

newsroom@observer-reporter.com

The Steelers’ draft wasn’t going to wow anyone. It’s tough to do that when you don’t have a second-round pick and your first-round selection is in the 20s.

But the Steelers did exactly what they needed to do in continuing to rebuild the trenches, this time on defense.

After taking five offensive linemen in the draft in his first two drafts, general manager Omar Khan took aim at retooling the defensive side of the trenches in the first round this year with the selection of tackle Derrick Harmon of Oregon.

Harmon is a high-character, high-quality player who sets up nicely to give the Steelers a complementary player to Cam Heyward that they once had in Stephon Tuitt. And he gives them a player, along with nose tackle Keeanu Benton, to build around up front in future seasons.

Running back Kaleb Johnson in the third round – they had traded their second-round pick to the Seahawks as part of the package to acquire wide receiver DK Metcalf – was one of the steals of the draft.

Johnson is a perfect scheme fit for offensive coordinator Arthur Smith’s outside zone running scheme. He has one of the main components in a running back that former Steelers running back Najee Harris lacked – vision.

Some have looked at Johnson’s 40-yard dash time (4.57 seconds) at the NFL Scouting Combine and view him as a “slow” running back. That’s not correct.

Johnson was a big-play running back at Iowa when everyone in the stadium down to the guy selling peanuts knew he was getting the football.

Johnson averaged 4.42 yards per rush after contact last season in the Big Ten. The Steelers averaged 4.1 yards per carry as a team.

He also averaged 10.2 yards per carry when he wasn’t contacted behind the line of scrimmage, running away from a lot of players.

Fourth-round pick Jack Sawyer, an outside linebacker, was a nod at keeping a strength a strength. And the Steelers really want to work more on a rotation with their players up front, including T.J. Watt, so they can get the best out of their stars not only late in games but late in the season. That is the same reason they doubled down at defensive end and took Johnson’s Iowa teammate Yahya Black, who should give them depth up front.

Quarterback Will Howard in the sixth round was another value pick in this draft.

While he might never develop into a starter, if he has a career such as that of Mason Rudolph, he was well worth that selection. And who knows, maybe he turns into more than that.

Overall, it was a solid draft, regardless of whether the Steelers took a quarterback early or not.

• The fact the Steelers didn’t take a quarterback early should be a big flashing sign to everyone that they expect Aaron Rodgers to sign.

It also spoke to the feelings they had about this particular draft class at that position.

While the Mel Kipers of the world were going nuts about the Steelers and every other team passing on Shedeur Sanders in this draft, he was nowhere near the slam dunk that the media – and his father – tried to build him up to be.

And he treated the pre-draft process like he was being recruited by teams rather than him trying to recruit teams to select him.

For a quarterback who isn’t a slam dunk, the distraction involved with taking Sanders was just too much for the NFL to want to deal with. At least until the Browns selected him in the fifth round.

• The draft in Green Bay drew an average of 200,000 people per day to the parking lot area in front of Lambeau Field.

Having been to Lambeau and knowing how large that area is – and the lack of overall hotel space in Green Bay itself – that was a lot.

With the draft in Pittsburgh next year, knowing the area outside of Acrisure Stadium adjacent to Stage AE, where the event will take place, coupled with how much easier it is for so many people to get to Pittsburgh as opposed to Wisconsin, we could see a record-setting crowd here next year.

That number is currently 775,000 people that Detroit drew in 2024.

The draft won’t just be a Pittsburgh event. You can bet the hotels here in Washington County will fill up that weekend.

• One thing to remember when looking at the Steelers’ draft is that the acquisition of Metcalf should be factored into the equation.

The 27-year-old wide receiver was the most impactful offensive skill player to change teams this offseason.

The pairing of Matcalf and George Pickens is one that has to have the opposing defensive coordinators in the AFC North spending some sleepless nights.

The Steelers were never really in the market to move Pickens in this draft. That would have just opened another hole on the roster.

Dale Lolley hosts The Drive on Steelers Nation Radio and writes a Sunday column for the Observer-Reporter.