PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – In his short time at the position, Steelers GM Omar Khan has an early reputation of being aggressive and changing the impression of a traditional franchise. For the 2024 NFL Draft, nothing. Khan said he looked at options of moving up or down, but just waited.
Khan said there were going to be good players if they stayed where they were slotted to pick, so no need to move. There were times he sweated it out, saying waiting for the Rams to pick 19th overall so they could take Troy Fautanu was the longest 10 minutes of his life. He had some anxiety that West Virginia center Zach Frazier would fall to pick 51. Both did happen.
Even if they didn’t end up with those players, they felt like they had good options. It led to a lot of smiles from the head coach and general manager.
“When you are prepared it makes for a good weekend,” said Mike Tomlin.
It’s not to say they were ill-prepared previously. It helps that Tomlin said before the Draft he wasn’t thirsty for any players or at any position. His way of saying they had filled most of their holes in free agency, which would allow for less stress in knowing you must fill holes in the Draft.
The reality was they did have holes to fill and they filled them. They got what most believe is a ready-made starting center and tackle, plus the addition of a top three wide receiver and then four depth pieces on the defensive line, linebacker, guard and corner.
I’ve never once heard any coach or general manager finish a draft and show immediate regrets. Everyone is happy with their selections even if the player they really wanted was selected right before their opportunity. Khan and Tomlin seem really content with this group, so much so there was no need to brag about it or sell it to anyone.
They feel like they’ve made an impact on their now and future and they did so with what Khan said were ‘high character guys who are going to be great parts of this community’.
“We value the tape and often times tape is produced by good relationships with the game, work ethic and being solid individuals,” Tomlin said. “We value all of those things. We research. I think that’s reflective of this group.”
As mentioned, every team internally will walk out of a draft feeling good about what they did. The proof will be on the field, but there was a sense that with the moves in free agency and now the draft, the Steelers are close to being the Steelers again.
“This weekend will be defined by the next four to five years with the quality of play of this collective,” Tomlin said. “In terms of how we feel today, it’s about preparedness. It’s about options and feeling good about we did in the process to provide good, clean decision-making.”
How well those decisions pan out, as former GM Kevin Colbert used to say, ask me after the season who well we did in the Draft.
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