{"id":865678,"date":"2026-04-13T19:00:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T19:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/865678\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T19:00:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T19:00:28","slug":"what-should-be-steelers-biggest-draft-goal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/865678\/","title":{"rendered":"What Should Be Steelers Biggest Draft Goal?"},"content":{"rendered":"

2026 NFL Draft<\/a>\u2022Steelers News<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"PittsburghPittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan during the 2025 NFL Draft on April 24, 2025. — Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Nick Shook of NFL.com<\/a> recently tabbed one goal each AFC team must nail in the 2026 NFL Draft<\/a>. For the Steelers, Shook thinks Pittsburgh must explore another option at left tackle.<\/p>\n

With the uncertainty surrounding Broderick Jones<\/a>\u2018 neck injury, offensive tackle could be a major need in the draft for the Steelers. The Steelers kicked off Phase One of their offseason program last week and Jones was seen participating with the rest of the team on the field<\/a>. That is a good sign, but many are still skeptical about Jones as the long-term answer at left tackle. <\/p>\n

Steelers general manager Omar Khan<\/a> must decide next whether to pick up Jones\u2019 fifth-year option by May 1. The\u00a0price tag<\/a>\u00a0for his fifth-year option is $19.072 million.<\/p>\n

\u201cGeneral manager Omar Khan has done a commendable job of rebuilding Pittsburgh\u2019s offensive line over the last few years, and depending on who you ask, the Steelers might be just fine up front. With a starting defense that is largely settled (and surprisingly deep at the second and third levels), Khan should direct his attention toward the blocking unit, especially if he\u2019d like to maximize a backfield that includes Jaylen Waddle, Rico Dowdle and Kaleb Johnson,\u201d Shook wrote. \u201cThe position I\u2019m targeting: offensive tackle, where Broderick Jones isn\u2019t cemented into his starting job on the left side. Bring in some competition and further raise the standard up front. It might be especially necessary once the Steelers are forced to turn toward a younger quarterback after 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shook has the Steelers selecting Georgia offensive tackle Monroe Freeling at No. 21 overall in his mock draft 1.0.<\/p>\n

\u201cBroderick Jones could be facing a prove-it year in 2026, which will be the final season of his rookie contract if the Steelers choose not to exercise his fifth-year option \u2014 and he\u2019s coming back from a neck injury. Replacing one Georgia tackle with another might feel like flying too close to the sun, but Freeling is the best remaining OT available and has guard-like quickness that should represent an upgrade over what Jones brings to the field,\u201d Shook wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Freeling played in all 14 games with five starts at left tackle in 2024. in 2025, he was named Second-team All-SEC, playing in all 14 games with 13 starts at left tackle.<\/p>\n

Freeling , who stands at 6-foot-7, 315 pounds, ran a 4.93 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine. He also posted a 1.71 in the 10-yard split, 33.5\u2033 vertical jump and 9\u2032 7\u2033 broad jump. Freeling has an arm length of 34 3\/4\u2019\u201d and 10 3\/4\u2032\u201d hand size.<\/p>\n

He scored an impressive<\/a> 9.99Relative Athletic Score (RAS) out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 2 out of 1638 OT from 1987 to 2026.<\/p>\n

\"NCAAGeorgia Bulldogs wide receiver Zachariah Branch (1) celebrates with offensive lineman Monroe Freeling (57) after a touchdown catch against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the second quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Nov 28, 2025. \u2014 Brett Davis \/ Imagn Images
Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Ryan McCrystal of Sharp Football<\/a> has the Steelers selecting Clemson offensive tackle Blake Miller at No. 21 overall in his latest mock draft. McCrystal had the Steelers landing Alabama offensive lineman Kaydn Proctor in his previous mock.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Steelers are still trying to decide if Broderick Jones is their long-term left tackle. They\u2019ll have to decide on his fifth-year option soon. Adding a lineman with versatile traits like Kadyn Proctor or Max Iheanachor might be a good way to approach this selection. They both have the traits to play guard and could probably win a job over Spencer Anderson immediately,\u201d McCrystal wrote. \u201cBut they also played tackle in college, and might push for Jones\u2019 job now or down the road.\u00a0 If they want a more traditional left tackle to compete with Jones, Clemson\u2019s\u00a0Blake Miller might be the ideal fit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller, who stands at 6-foot-7, 317 pounds, started 54 consecutive games at right tackle during his four-year career (2022\u20132025) at Clemson.<\/p>\n

At the NFL Combine, the Cleveland-area native recorded a 5.04 in the 40-yard dash<\/a>, 1.75 in the 10-yard split, a 32 vertical jump, 9\u2032 5\u2033 broad jump and 32 reps on the bench press, which was set at 225 pounds. Miller had an 83 Athleticism Score test, which was the best among offensive tackles, according to Next Gen Stats.<\/p>\n

The Steelers have brought in three offensive tackles for pre-draft visits \u2014 Markel Bell of Miami<\/a>, Travis Burke of Memphis<\/a> and Spencer Fano of Utah<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMentioned In This Article: 2026 NFL Draft<\/a> Broderick Jones<\/a> Omar Khan<\/a> Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> Steelers<\/a> Steelers News<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"2026 NFL Draft\u2022Steelers News Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan during the 2025 NFL Draft on April 24,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":183154,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[4955,465,7,6,1256,520,57,2360,426,2395],"class_list":{"0":"post-865678","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-2026-nfl-draft","9":"tag-broderick-jones","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-omar-khan","13":"tag-pittsburgh","14":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","15":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","16":"tag-steelers","17":"tag-steelers-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116398944898859930","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865678","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=865678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865678\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=865678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=865678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=865678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}