Welcome to our annual Pittsburgh Steelers Draft Profiles! Each of these articles will feature all of the positions in the game of football and more importantly, the top-rated players at these positions and those that the Steelers may be interested in! This one features the Interior Defensive Linemen…
Byron Murphy II – Texas, 6’1″ 308lbs
Elite athletic skills for a man his size… Pressures the QB at an unusually high rate for an interior guy… Blend of tremendous power and first-step quickness… Reads things very well… Relentless motor… Seems to be a fit in virtually any scheme right now… His lack of height is a question mark… High motor can sometimes lead him to penetrate too far upfield… Not huge sack numbers despite high amount of pressures.
vs Oklahoma,
Our Projection: Late First to Mid-Second
Jer’Zhan Newton – Illinois, 6’2″ 295lbs
Often referred to as Johnny… Versatile D-Lineman who succeeded from nearly every spot on the front… Heavy, strong hands… Plenty of moves to counter blockers… Rare athleticism for 300lbs… Despite the lack of length he showed the ability to play on the edge… Tremendous use of leverage/Low to the ground strength that is difficult for taller OL to work against… Like Murphy, his lack of height may be an issue… Will have to get better at shedding double-teams… Arm length is a concern for most teams.
vs Michigan,
Our Projection: Late First to Mid-Second
Michael Hall, Jr – Ohio State, 6’2″ 280lbs
Another guy who saw consistent improvement over his three year stint in Columbus… Quick off the ball… Excellent footwork/No wasted steps… Really good conversion from strength to quickness and vice-versa… Very strong and uses his strength to keep O-Lineman away from him… Has a variety of decent pass rush moves… Body type suggests he may have trouble finding a consistent role… Conditioning has been questioned in recent seasons… Has some technique issues to clean up.
vs Notre Dame,
Our Projection: Late Third to Mid-Fourth
T’Vondre Sweat – Texas, 6’4″ 362lbs
Constant growth and improvement throughout his career at Texas… A true ‘space-eater’ of a defensive lineman… Impressive athlete considering his massive size… Gets off the ball well… Very high motor… Run stuffer who forces double teams freeing up other players… Shows the necessary skills to be a more consistent pass rusher… Conditioning is a major concern… He would wear down as games moved into the third and fourth quarters… Has to develop pass rushing moves and technique… Can occasionally get too high at the snap.
vs Oklahoma,
Our Projection: Late Second Round
Kris Jenkins – Michigan, 6’3″ 305lbs
Son of former NFL’er Kris Jenkins, SR… Has displayed constant improvement throughout his career at Michigan… Tremendous athlete who displays both quickness and strength… Easily a top run stopper who holds his ground well even while under attack from blockers… Strong hands and a very swift punch at the snap… He will immediately make a team better against the run… His pass rush skills need improvement… Very limited in his pass rush moves… Explosiveness doesn’t always show up every play.
vs Penn State,
Our Projection: Late Second Round
Maason Smith – LSU, 6’5″ 306lbs
A former five-star recruit who dealt with a serious knee injury costing him most of 2023… Good first step… Has position flexibility along the front… Excellent arm length allows him to dictate where blockers can go… Good motor and incredible functional strength… Must improve play against double-teams… Lacks play recognition… Must get more technique-oriented for the NFL… Brute strength but also needs those finer skills.
Our Projection: Late Third Round
Braden Fiske – Florida State, 6’4″ 290lbs
Saw his draft stock skyrocket at the NFL Combine with a huge performance both in strength and agility work… Played first five seasons at Western Michigan… Quick off the ball… Transitions from speed to power quickly… Has a much greater range of pass rush moves than his contemporaries… Very solid against double-teams… Arm length is not ideal… Must improve hand usage and technique.
Our Projection: Second Round
Ruke Orhorhoro – Duke, 6’4″ 295lbs
Native of Nigeria… Didn’t start playing football until late high school after playing mostly basketball… Originally played three seasons at Clemson… Extremely well-built and looks the part… Tremendous length and impressive strength… Lots of potential in pass rushing situations but will need time to develop… Basketball experience shows in his footwork/Very quick first step and he’s nimble on his feet for his size… Lack of experience shows up when facing double-teams… Hand usage needs help… Overall technique will improve with good coaching… His ceiling is really high and someone will take a shot on him for that alone.
vs Georgia 2021,
Our Projection: Third Round
Mekhi Wingo – LSU, 6’0 285lbs
Played his freshman season at Missouri before transferring to LSU… His ability to penetrate into the backfield jumps off the tape… Combines his strength and quickness into a difficult weapon to handle… Stays consistently low which can frustrate some taller O-Linemen… Good hands… Knows how to ‘anchor’ at the point of attack and is willing and capable of taking on double teams… His overall size is going to raise questions… Needs to develop more pass rushing moves outside of the usual bull rush… Missed half of 2023 due to lower body injury and surgery.
Our Projection: Late Third to Mid-Fourth Round
Tyler Davis – Clemson, 6’2″ 300lbs
Tremendous strength/Bench presses over 400lbs… Ran a 40-yard dash under 5.0 displaying quality athleticism… Good lateral quickness… High motor that doesn’t stop especially in pursuit… Gives interior O-Linemen fits with bull rush… Good hand usage and gives opponent a solid punch… Pass rush skills need work… Can sometimes get his pad level too high… Lacks the desired arm length… Has an injury history that is concerning.
vs Miami,
Our Projection: Fourth Round
Khristian Boyd – Northern Iowa, 6’4″ 315lbs
Played five seasons for the Panthers… Has tremendous length… Big-time burst off the line at the snap of the ball… He’s a classic, old-school brawler type… Keeps his pads low despite height… Violent hands at the point of attack… Bull rush is his primary way to get to the passer and is largely effective at it… While he’s played on the outside, he is likely going to be inside especially on passing downs… Needs to acquire some pass rush moves… Not going to catch anyone in pursuit.
vs Iowa State,
Our Projection: Late Fifth-Mid-Sixth Round
Others to Keep an Eye on… DeWayne Carter, Duke… Brandon Dorlus, Oregon… McKinley Jackson, Texas A&M
