The 2024 NFL Draft class was quite the haul for the Pittsburgh Steelers, that much is certain.
For the second straight year, the Steelers received plenty of praise and GM Omar Khan seems to have nailed yet another test in his role as the chief roster builder in Pittsburgh.
Landing Troy Fautanu, Zach Frazier, Roman Wilson, Payton Wilson, Mason McCormick, Logan Lee and Ryan Watts was rather impressive from Khan and assistant GM Andy Weidl. Value was solid, and the Steelers leaned heavily into an identity finally.
For ESPN’s Matt Miller, the Steelers did a tremendous job in the draft. In his piece ranking the top 100 draft picks coming out of the 2024 NFL Draft, he had four Steelers draft picks inside his top 50, including one inside the top 10.
That would be Frazier, who was No. 6 in Miller’s top-100 draft picks rankings and whom he had at No. 29 on his board overall.
“When I was writing scouting notes on Frazier before the draft, I kept thinking he was a Pittsburgh-type player thanks to his toughness, agility and background as an elite high-school wrestler. Steelers GM Omar Khan apparently agreed,” Miller writes. “Frazier has the profile of a 10-year starter at center and can immediately step in to boost an offensive line that got a complete makeover during draft weekend.”
Frazier certainly had the appeal for the Steelers from a stylistic standpoint. He fits the rough and tumble, nasty mold the Steelers were looking for in the trenches, especially at center, and they landed one with a great deal of experience in Frazier. He looked like a Steeler, felt like a Steeler, and now he is one.
Seeing Frazier at No. 6 in Miller’s top 100, especially considering he was the No. 51 overall selection and was No. 29 on Miller’s big board, is quite remarkable. He is behind only Chicago’s Rome Odunze and Caleb Williams, Arizona’s Marvin Harrison, Kansas City’s Xavier Worthy and Washington’s Jayden Daniels.
Along with having Frazier at No. 6, Miller is high on the Steelers’ selection of North Carolina State linebacker Payton Wilson, ranking the reigning Butkus and Bednarik award winner at No. 16 in the top 100, which was 82 spots ahead of where he went to the Steelers at No. 98 overall.
“Were it not for injuries, Wilson would have been a first-round pick,” Miller writes. “That’s part of the calculus for every NFL team as they evaluate players and as we grade their picks but keep this in mind: Wilson played every game the past two years at NC State and posted jaw-dropping production (130 tackles, 18.5 tackles for loss and three interceptions last season). If he can match that going forward, the Steelers will have one of the steals of the draft.”
That seems to be the general consensus when it comes to Wilson. He fell due to injuries, which is understandable considering his medical history is very concerning with two major knee injuries, reportedly not having an ACL in one knee, and a serious shoulder injury that required surgery in 2021.
But as Miller pointed out, he’s been healthy the last two seasons and was dominant at the collegiate level.
The Steelers felt comfortable enough taking a flyer, and it could pay off in a major way as arguably the biggest steal of the draft — should he stay healthy and become a hit at the NFL level.
Outside of Frazier and Wilson in the top 20, Miller had Washington OL Troy Fautanu at No. 26 in the top 100, Michigan wide receiver Roman Wilson at No. 33, and South Dakota State’s Mason McCormick at No. 51. Five of the seven Steelers’ draft picks in the top 51 of Miller’s rankings.
That’s pretty darn good, I’d say.
Of course, none of that matters until things are shown on the field from the rookie draft class. But there is so much to be excited about regarding the Steelers’ class as a whole, which appears to have plugged a number of holes for the Black and Gold moving forward.
