Pittsburgh Steelers: Team Draft Needs

Team draft picks (eight)

First round (17)
Second round (48)
Third round (79)
Fourth round (115)
Fifth round (150)
Sixth round (186)
Sixth round (206)
Seventh round (223)

1. Linebacker

The Steelers express quite a bit of faith in Larry Foote (ILB) and Jason Worilds (OLB), but neither player has impressed at any point, and the team needs to upgrade at both of their positions. Outside linebacker in particular might be a problem with James Harrison gone.

Potential targets:

First round

Alec Ogletree, ILB, Georgia
Arthur Brown, ILB, Kansas State
Cornellius Carradine, OLB, Florida State

Second round

Kevin Minter, ILB, LSU
Corey Lemonier, OLB, Auburn
Jamie Collins, OLB, Southern Mississippi
Sio Moore, ILB/OLB, Connecticut
Jarvis Jones, OLB, Georgia
Kiko Alonso, ILB, Oregon
Manti Te'o, ILB, Notre Dame

Third round

DeVonte Holloman, ILB, South Carolina
Gerald Hodges, ILB, Penn State
Cornelius Washington, OLB, Georgia
Trevardo Williams, OLB/ILB, Connecticut
Lerentee McCray, OLB, Florida
Damontre Moore, OLB, Texas A&M

Fourth round

Stansly Maponga, OLB, TCU
Kevin Riddick, ILB, North Carolina
Khaseem Greene, ILB, Rutgers
Jon Bostic, ILB, Florida
Sean Porter, ILB, Texas A&M
Keith Pough, ILB, Howard
John Simon, OLB, Ohio State

Fifth through seventh rounds

Quanterus Smith, OLB, Western Kentucky
Steve Beauharnais, ILB, Rutgers
Chase Thomas, ILB/OLB, Stanford
Nico Johnson, ILB, Alabama
Brandon Jenkins, OLB, Florida State
Jelani Jenkins, ILB, Florida

2. Wide receiver

Emmanuel Sanders looks like a decent player, but the Steelers will need to do better than him if they hope to recover from the loss of Mike Wallace. Pittsburgh could use some size at receiver in particular, as neither Sanders nor Antonio Brown are legitimate red-zone targets.

Potential targets:

First round

Cordarrelle Patterson, Tennessee
DeAndre Hopkins, Clemson

Second round

Stedman Bailey, West Virginia
Justin Hunter, Tennessee
Keenan Allen, California
Quinton Patton, Louisiana Tech
Markus Wheaton, Oregon State
Robert Woods, USC

Third round

Chris Harper, Kansas State
Da'Rick Rogers, Tennessee Tech
Josh Boyce, TCU
Marquise Goodwin, Texas
Terrance Williams, Baylor
Kenny Stills, Oklahoma

Fourth round

Mark Harrison, Rutgers
Tavarres King, Georgia
Chad Bumphis, Mississippi State
Marquess Wilson, Washington State

Fifth through seventh rounds

Justin Brown, Oklahoma
Corey Fuller, Virginia Tech
DeVonte Christopher, Utah
Marcus Davis, Virginia Tech
Aaron Dobson, Marshall
Cobi Hamilton, Arkansas
Ace Sanders, South Carolina

3. Safety

Troy Polamalu will probably have a roster spot in Pittsburgh as long as he wants one, but the Steelers can't depend on his week-to-week availability. Polamalu just can't stay healthy – he missed 22 games over the last four years, and things probably won't get any better with age 32 coming up on Apr. 19.

Potential targets:

First round

Matt Elam, Florida
Jonathan Cyprien, Florida International
Kenny Vaccaro, Texas
Eric Reid, LSU

Second round

J.J. Wilcox, Georgia Southern
Bacarri Rambo, Georgia
Phillip Thomas, Fresno State

Third round

D.J. Swearinger, South Carolina
Shawn Williams, Georgia
Josh Evans, Florida
Shamarko Thomas, Syracuse

Fourth round

Tony Jefferson, Oklahoma
Duke Williams, Nevada
T.J. McDonald, USC

Fifth through seventh rounds

Rontez Miles, California (PA)
Cooper Taylor, Richmond
Earl Wolff, North Carolina State

Other needs: Defensive line, running back, tight end