Only about a day and a half away from the 2018 opening bell and there is still no one obvious front runner to be the Steeler's first round pick. The usual method is looking at Tomlin/Colbert pro day visits, private workouts, and player dinners after those visits. That said, 2 players stick out ahead of the pack in that regard. LVE and Malik Jefferson. LVE is a one year producer(like Watt) from a non power5 school(unlike Watt). But every team seems to really like this guy. Jefferson is rated as high as a 3rd round prospect and as low as a 5th round prospect on most draft sites. I don't see him as a 1st round candidate.

The Steelers also showed a lot of interest in QBs Mason Rudolph and Lamar Jackson. Being that this is a QB league, and the current franchise QB is most likely down to his last 2-3 seasons, These prospects hold extra value even if they are not perfect fits.

Another player the Steelers have shown more than average interest in is RB Darrius Guice. With the Bell saga being what it is I have to wonder if there is a plan to let Bell start his music career full time a year earlier than expected. Guice is a 1st round talent, so all the analysts say.

Biggest 'NEED' is ILB as most would agree. I see 4 1st round candidates. If ANY of those 4 are on the board at 28, I would expect him to be our newest draft pick. What are the expectations that Smith, Edmunds, LVE, or Evans will be there at 28? If they are not?
Lamar Jackson will probably be the best pure athlete left on the board if still there at 28. AND he also plays QB. Many analysts have brought up the Bill Parcell's 7 traits for drafting QBs and Rudolph is the only QB that checks all 7. Actually because of these traits I don't expect these 2 QBs to make it past AZ, NE and NO. Just my gut feeling.
If somehow 6 QBs and 4 ILBs have been selected before the 28th overall pick, I think the next player at the top of the Steeler's board will be Guice. I think he is a higher caliber player than the likely safety options and the BPA regardless of need.


I think what I'm thinking here is there are 7 candidates for this year's 1st round pick. Beyond that, just surprise me.