{"id":864720,"date":"2026-04-12T10:06:40","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T10:06:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/864720\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T10:06:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T10:06:40","slug":"draft-analyst-reveals-reason-steelers-should-be-excited-about-drafts-edge-depth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/864720\/","title":{"rendered":"Draft Analyst Reveals Reason Steelers Should Be Excited About Draft’s Edge Depth"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is a sudden interest in the Steelers and edge rushers in this draft<\/a>, and one analyst agrees they should be interested. Not to draft one, however, but rather to hope that others draft them, or overdraft them, more accurately. Pittsburgh already has depth at outside linebacker and isn\u2019t something they should concern themselves with now, analyst Matt Williamson believes.<\/p>\n

Speaking with Tim Benz on Breakfast with Benz<\/a>, he shared his thoughts on the Steelers and edge rusher talk ahead of the draft. \u201cI know a lot of analysts are really excited about the group. I\u2019m not\u201d, he insisted. \u201cI don\u2019t see much high-end talent. I think some of the edges are going to get over-drafted\u201d.<\/p>\n

The edge discussion pertaining to the Steelers is less about current need but rather future practicality. T.J. Watt is still a stud, or at least close enough to it, but for how much longer? And at what point is trade compensation more valuable than his production combined with his cap hit?<\/p>\n

Beyond that, there is the Nick Herbig variable. A premium rotational edge defender, the Steelers could soon lose him. He is entering the final year of his contract, and he\u2019ll be looking for a starting job and the money that comes with it. Even with Jack Sawyer in their back pockets, they could soon be thinner than it seems. In theory, anyway, but Williamson isn\u2019t worried, and doesn\u2019t think this is the class to indulge.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of names, and I think that\u2019s good for the Steelers\u201d, he said of the edge class<\/a>. \u201cWhen you\u2019re watching the draft, I think you\u2019ll see a lot of edges go off the board before the Steelers\u2019 second pick in Round 2, and that\u2019s exactly what you want. Let all those guys [at other positions] fall\u201d.<\/p>\n

There is always an advantage when a position that is not a need is deep. They take up premium draft slots, and players at positions of greater need to you fall further than they might in another year. While this isn\u2019t perceived as an all-time great class for edge rusher, the position is important enough and has enough depth that it could cause other positions the Steelers need more right now to fall.<\/p>\n

Right now, there are about half a dozen or so edge rushers who could go in the first round, but there are often one or two surprises when a team falls in love with a particular prospect. You have players like David Bailey and T.J. Parker, Keldric Faulk and Arvell Reese, Akheem Mesidor and Rueben Bain Jr. If other teams load up on these edge rushers, it would help the Steelers draft the wide receiver or guard of their choice, for example.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There is a sudden interest in the Steelers and edge rushers in this draft, and one analyst agrees…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":864721,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[2222,51612,7,35141,6,520,57,2360,426,67749,691],"class_list":{"0":"post-864720","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-arvell-reese","9":"tag-breakfast-with-benz","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-matt-williamson","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-pittsburgh","14":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","15":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","16":"tag-steelers","17":"tag-tim-benz","18":"tag-trending"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116391189004529369","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=864720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864720\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/864721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=864720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=864720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=864720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}