It was only four years ago that the Steelers made a rare draft move for them, deciding that the player they wanted to take with their last pick in the third round had been inside their building all along.
But James Conner is all but certain to land elsewhere this offseason as a free agent, ending the team’s four-year run of having a Pitt product on the roster. Conner was the first Panthers player drafted by coach Mike Tomlin and the first taken by the Steelers since 2000, when the two squads moved into the same practice facility on the South Side. Fans of both local football clubs may not have to wait as long to see it happen again.
This year, coach Pat Narduzzi can realistically send as many as seven Pitt alumni to NFL teams in the draft next month, and the Steelers have enough needs throughout the roster that a national search for talent could take them right next door.
Ohio State — 6
Florida — 4
Maryland — 4
Tennessee — 4
Louisville — 3
Miami (FL) — 3
Michigan — 3
Oklahoma State — 3
Oregon — 3
Penn State — 3
Texas — 3
“I don't know if the Steelers are going to help get your guys get ready for the NFL. It’s nice to look over there,” Narduzzi said last week after Pitt’s pro day workouts. “Sometimes I think it makes your guys start to drift, like, ‘Hey, I want to be over there playing with them.’ … To me, it’s a great scene. Coach Tomlin’s my favorite NFL head coach. That guy’s the guy.”
In the three years since they kept Conner home, the Steelers and Pitt prospects have been ships passing in the night. Either the Panthers haven’t produced many NFL-caliber candidates in a given draft, or if they did, they were at positions where the Steelers were set on their depth chart.
But this April could be different. The bulk of Pitt’s draft class is on defense, and after losing five valued contributors last week in free agency, the Steelers have holes to fill on that side of things. Even if they don’t use their first pick, No. 24 overall, to address the defense, that’s OK, because the Panthers don’t have any surefire first-rounders — at least not in the eyes of draft experts.
“I know they better build a monument of me here if I stay here,” said Paris Ford, who spurned plenty of college offers to play in his hometown. “Nah, I’m just joking. It doesn't matter where I go, man.”
Ford and fellow safety Damar Hamlin would be staying even closer to home than Conner, who grew up two hours north in Erie. Hamlin is from McKees Rocks, Ford is a Garfield native, and both were big-time WPIAL stars before matriculating to Pitt.
At the pro level, both project to being sub-package defensive backs and special teamers, if not starting safeties. They had similar stats in college, but Hamlin figures to be the higher draft pick after running a 4.59 40-yard dash compared to Ford’s disappointing 4.83 last week. If the Steelers are looking for backups to Minkah Fitzpatrick and Terrell Edmunds in the later rounds, Hamlin and Ford might be there. And at cornerback, Jason Pinnock had an eye-opening pro day, running a 4.52.
“I think it was a slow turf, because it’s really soft,” Narduzzi said of the times posted by his guys. “But it comes down to being a football player. I think the tape will speak for themselves.”
Defensive linemen Jaylen Twyman, Patrick Jones and Rashad Weaver all have plenty of tape to fall back on, though they’re also good examples of one reason why Panthers don’t often turn Steelers. Narduzzi’s defensive scheme is a 4-3, and the Steelers always are trying to find defenders who can fit in their 3-4 system, even if it isn’t their most common alignment these days.
2017: RB James Conner, Round 3, No. 105 overall
2000: DB Hank Poteat, Round 3, No. 77
1996: QB Alex Van Pelt, Round 8, No. 216
1989: OL Tom Ricketts, Round 1, No. 24
1989: LB Jerry Olsavsky, Round 10, No. 258
1986: DB Bill Callahan, Round 4, No. 94
1982 OL Emil Boures, Round 7, No. 182
1982: LB Sal Sunseri, Round 10, No. 267
1981: QB Rick Trocano, Round 11, No. 292
1978: WR Randy Reutershan, Round 6, No. 160
1978: OL Tom Brzoza, Round 11, No. 300
Take Twyman, who measured in at 6 feet 1, 301 pounds at pro day, a bit smaller than your usual 3-4 nose tackle, and a bit shorter than a 3-4 defensive end. He noted that he’s been working with a coach who has experience in that defense, but even Narduzzi admitted he believes Twyman’s ideal role is a 4-3 defensive tackle, the way Pitt used him.
Narduzzi also pointed out, though, that NFL teams play nickel and dime defenses so much now that they often end up with four down linemen anyway. In the Steelers’ case, that typically means two defensive linemen and two nominal outside linebackers. Jones and Weaver were almost exclusively defensive ends in college, but both are being asked by NFL teams about their ability to transition to being stand-up pass-rushers.
“You’ve got to realize where the NFL's at right now,” Weaver said. “It's not really a true outside linebacker like it was years ago, and these 3-4 defenses aren't really 3-4’s. … The outside linebacker is T.J. Watt and Bud Dupree — you know, dudes that are rushing the passer, get in the backfield, and every once in a while got to cover a flat or a hook. They're not running down the field on slot receivers.”
Versatility will be key for all of Pitt’s prospects, especially since none seem to be slam-dunk picks for Day 1 or Day 2. For instance, the Steelers could project Jones favorably to outside linebacker, or the slightly thicker Weaver to defensive end, or even Twyman to nose tackle.
After all, Twyman’s idol was Aaron Donald, and when he left Pitt many viewed him as only suited to play in a 4-3 front. Three Defensive Player of the Year awards later, and surely the Steelers or any defensive coaching staff could’ve found a spot for him.
“I feel like I could do perfectly fine at outside linebacker. At the end of the day, I feel like I play football,” said the 6-4, 264-pound Jones, who has a body type similar to Bud Dupree. “I could line up anywhere and I'd go to work and play ball. That's what I do, I play football. I watch a lot of T.J. Watt film. T.J. Watt is a great player. I watch his film as much as I can.”
Pitt won’t present as many options on offense, but the Steelers must replace center Maurkice Pouncey, and former Panthers walk-on Jimmy Morrissey hopes to hear his name called by the end of the draft. Even Pitt’s lone eligible pass-catcher, receiver D.J. Turner, can at least boast a couple Steelers ties.
The 5-9, 205-pound Turner played one season for new Steelers offensive coordinator Matt Canada before transferring to Pitt. They were together in 2018 at Maryland, and a year later, Turner was in the same receiving corps as Dino Tomlin, Mike’s oldest son. The football world is already small, and gets all the more narrow when a pro franchise and college program share the same hallways.
“It helps out a lot,” said Turner, whose best path to the NFL could be as a returner. “Matt Canada, he knows me on a personal level. We were literally in a meeting room every day together, so he knows what I can bring, [regardless of] production. He was more confident in me than I was in myself at the time.
“And I’d speak with coach Tomlin all the time in the parking lot; we’d talk for a while. Just having those connections is always big, especially moving to the next level.”
Brian Batko: bbatko@post-gazette.com and Twitter @BrianBatko.
First Published: March 23, 2021, 12:23 p.m.