Mel Kiper evaluates what Pittsburgh Steelers should do with 1st round pick

Mel Kiper, the ESPN NFL draft guru, predicted the direction the Steelers may go with their first round selection. It involves passing.

Now, Kiper can’t say whether the Steelers will use the 20th pick of the NFL Draft on a defensive back or a wideout. But earlier this week, he tossed out the names of several candidates when he met with the media for his first big teleconference of the draft season.

“That is a tough one, I had corner going to the Steelers and Nate Wiggins going in there,” Kiper said. “And in 2.0, I got off of that. I went to the receiver because I really felt like at that particular point, when you look at where we are right now with the Steelers, (they would pick) Brian Thomas Jr. If he’s there, Xavier Worthy. It’s tough to pass those guys up.”

Then Kiper drifted back to what unfolded on the second night of last year’s draft with the Steelers. They traded up to get the 32nd pick, which normally would be the end of the first round. But because of a penalty against the Dolphins, pick No. 32 opened the second round. The Steelers then selected Pittsburgh legacy Joey Porter Jr., a cornerback from Penn State.

So would the Steelers go back to corner in the first round this year? That is why he suggested Wiggins, the star Clemson defensive back.

“Wiggins would make sense,” Kiper said. “He ran a 4.28 (at the NFL Combine) and he had a couple games there where he would track down the running back … He has got great hustle … (And) he has really developed and emerged after getting off to a rough start in terms of confidence. He’s got that swagger, he is like the lock down corner he became.”

Kiper also suggested Cooper DeJean from Iowa as a possibility for the Steelers. The site NFL.com rates the former Hawkeye star as the best nickelback available.

But then there are the receivers. The Steelers are revamping their offense. They signed quarterback Russell Wilson and traded for Justin Fields. And now they need to add to their receiver depth. The Steelers traded Diontae Johnson, but signed Van Jefferson. You can see them using the 20th selection on a wideout. The top three available are Marvin Harrison Jr, Rome Odunze and Malik Nabers. But none of those receivers should be available when the Steelers select.

However, there is another layer of receivers who should go in the mid to late first round. Those receivers include Worthy, the former Texas Longhorn who ran a 4.21 to break the combine record for the 40. And Thomas is Nabers’ former teammate.

The NFL Draft is April 25-27. It will go live from Detroit. You can read all of the On3 NFL Draft coverage here.