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We are all keeping our fingers crossed that college football will happen this season. If it doesn’t, it will make player evaluation for the 2021 NFL draft even more difficult than in 2020 when teams were severely hamstrung in their offseason access to players.
Bleacher Report put out a new one-round 2021 mock draft and for the Steelers, they really missed the mark. With the No. 24 overall pick, they have the Steelers drafting Penn State tight end Pat Freiermuth.
First off, this is no dig on Friermuth. He’s an excellent young player. And he certainly could end up a first-round pick next year as a redshirt sophomore if he declares.
The Problem with drafting any tight end, it just isn’t clear if the Steelers really take the position serious enough for that level of investment. The Steelers last drafted a tight end in the first round back in 2005 with Heath Miller. Miller is the best tight end in franchise history but his numbers are nowhere near elite receiving stats in today’s NFL.
One caveat to all of this is with the addition of Eric Ebron this offseason, we might see if the Steelers have turned the corner and are finally going to give the tight end position the respect it deserves. If so, a pick like Friermuth would make a lot more sense.
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