The Pittsburgh Steelers overhauled their quarterback room this offseason, bringing in Super Bowl winner Russell Wilson and trading for Justin Fields of the Chicago Bears to serve as his talented high-upside backup.
Last year, Pittsburgh was held back by subpar QB play and many believed that position held the team back from being a contender, and one analyst thinks it is now time to protect these new investments at QB come draft time.
PFF’s Steve Palazzolo put out his mock draft for the Steelers and he has them taking Georgia offensive tackle Amarius Mims with the 20th overall pick.
It’s a familiar sight for Steelers fans, as the team took another Georgia tackle in the first round last year with Broderick Jones going 14th overall.
Jones had a strong and promising rookie year and is slotted in as the long-term answer at right tackle, but there’s definitely another Bulldog-sized hole on the opposite side of the line if Mims is available at pick No. 20.
Mims is a massive tackle at 6’8″ and 340 pounds, yet he still ran a 5.07 40-yard dash at that size at the NFL Combine.
Pittsburgh did a good job keeping its quarterbacks upright last season, as even though the team cycled through three starting quarterbacks, the Steelers only gave up 36 sacks.
Wilson and Fields are much more mobile than Kenny Pickett, Mason Rudolph, and Mitchell Trubisky, so they need to give them the ability to use their feet and extend plays.
Pittsburgh lost starting left tackle Chukwuma Okorafor in free agency, so Mims would be a perfect fit at left tackle.
