With the offseason all but wrapped up and Brandon Aiyuk remaining a 49er, the Steelers will enter the 2024 season with a weakness at wide receiver. With no viable options left, the Steelers will roll with George Pickens, Calvin Austin and Van Jefferson as their main targets this coming season.
With the beginning of the 2024 season comes thinking ahead to the following offseason, when the 2025 NFL Draft will take place. Pro Football Network’s Derek Tate has already released his Round 1 mock draft for the 2025 NFL Draft.
Tate believes that the Steelers will address the wide receiver position with their selection in the first round, where he predicts they land the 14th overall pick. With that selection Tate believes that the Steelers will select Tetairoa McMillan, wide receiver out of Arizona
“The Steelers may be in the market for a quarterback if Russell Wilson or Justin Fields don’t make a compelling enough case to secure a second contract as the quarterback of the future in Pittsburgh.” Tate wrote. “Yet, I am still a believer in Justin Fields running Arthur Smith’s run-heavy offensive scheme at a high enough level to earn another year under center, which makes this addition Arizona WR Tetairoa McMillan a slam dunk at No. 14 overall.
Writing about McMillan’s ability on the field, Tate highlighted his ability relative to his build.
“McMillian projects as an instant impact outside receiver with impressive suddenness and acceleration for a player at 6’5” 210 pounds.” Tate wrote. “His body control and catch radius alongside George Pickens could make life treacherous on secondaries with smaller DBs who are ill-equipped to handle a dangerous contested-catch duo like this.”
In a year that projects to have a much weaker quarterback class, it would be a great decision to address a skill position of need in the coming draft.
The mock draft was created Saturday morning, hours before McMillan would go on to have the second best receiving performance in Big 12 history. With 304 yards and four touchdowns, McMillan became just the sixth wideout in the last ten years to have a 300+ receiving game according to Max Olson of ESPN.
