With two months and some change until the NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers have some obvious needs to fill. Offensively, they desperately need to add to their wide receiver corps. Defensively, the Steelers have two players that can play cornerback in Joey Porter Jr. and Jalen Ramsey, but little depth behind them. Thus, among plenty of candidates at the top of the class, Tennessee’s Colton Hood might be an attractive name in the first round.
CBS Sports’ Ryan Wilson thinks Hood would be a great fit on the Steelers’ defense, if Pittsburgh doesn’t want a first-round receiver.
“If you wanna go defense instead, if all the wide receivers are off the board, someone like Colton Hood… physical, outside corner. And he fits exactly what the Steelers historically like to do. Would play opposite of Joey Porter Jr.,” Wilson said Friday on CBS Sports HQ. “That’s a good place to start.”
The Steelers did get some good play from their depth pieces at cornerback last year. James Pierre put together the most consistent run of his NFL career. Asante Samuel Jr. also had some nice moments as an midseason addition. However, both are set to become free agents. And with a new staff in town, the Steelers might not strongly pursue either of them. If free agency doesn’t bring some help to the group, it’s definitely a spot you have to consider in the first round.
The good news is, this class holds a lot of talent at cornerback. There’s a handful of talented options that will land in the first round, so the Steelers probably don’t need to worry about trading up to get one, unless there’s one the franchise truly feels it can’t let pass up. Currently, Colton Hood looks to be a late-first round pick.
Thus, he’ll likely be there at 21st overall. If so, he would make a lot of sense. As Wilson mentions, he’s similar to Joey Porter Jr. in a lot of ways. He’s great in man coverage, closes on the ball, and flies downhill quickly. His physicality helps him a lot in man coverage. Especially at the line of scrimmage, where he thrives in cover 2 as well. He does need to be a little more consistent in deep zone coverage and tackling in general, but there’s a lot to like about Hood.
However free agency shakes out will obviously have a big impact on the Steelers’ draft needs. But one way or another, they simply have to add to the cornerback position. If that doesn’t happen before April, Colton Hood would make a lot of sense.
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