While many draft analysts put the safety position near the top as a first-round candidate for the Steelers, Matt Williamson disagrees. In fact, he suspects that, after the offseason they had, Pittsburgh isn’t interested in a safety that high. Having added Jaquan Brisker and getting DeShon Elliott back, he sees more of a mid-round possibility.
Speaking to Tim Benz on Breakfast with Benz, Williamson was also skeptical that the Steelers would have much of a shot at one of the top safeties in the first round of the draft. He trusts that Caleb Downs will be long gone, for example. As far as Dillon Thieneman goes, he only thinks there’s a 30-percent chance he lasts that long.
It’s worth noting that Williamson did not discuss Emmanuel McNeil-Warren. The Steelers brought the likely first-round safety for a pre-draft visit this week, and Williamson’s conversation took place before then. Had he known the Steelers would do this, perhaps his opinion would be different.
At the time of the conversation, though, he did not see the Steelers looking to draft a safety that early. Discussing Thieneman, for example, he said, “If [Jaquan] Brisker hadn’t been signed, I’d run to the podium for him”. Perhaps he is overestimating the import of the Brisker signing—perhaps not.
Historically, Pittsburgh has used free agency and the draft in a complementary way to address significant needs. In 2016, for example, the Steelers signed a safety and then took one high in the draft. Morgan Burnett didn’t work out, and Sean Davis wasn’t much better, but the template is there.
And it’s worth reminding, as Williamson himself noted, that the Steelers only signed Jaquan Brisker to a one-year contract, and it’s not clear what the long-term picture at safety even is. DeShon Elliott is returning, but he’s not under contract for long, either. And is Jalen Ramsey even a safety?
Right now, the Steelers don’t have a “franchise” safety, so to speak, so why not draft one? If McNeil-Warren is there, why not take him? Of course, it depends on who else is on the board, like a top wide receiver or guard. But the reality is Pittsburgh’s picture on the back end in, say, 2030 is completely unclear. But what options are there where Williamson sees value?
He is not high on Genesis Smith or Jalon Kilgore, a couple names Benz brought up. Of the latter, he said, “Kilgore is an athlete who might be masquerading a little bit as a football player”. But the Steelers could be enticed by a Penn State safety in Zakee Wheatley.
“Wheatley is intriguing. I could see him being a fourth-round type of dude”, he noted as a mid-round safety option for the Steelers in the draft. “I also like Treydan Stukes from Arizona—a really good athlete. VJ Payne from Kansas State or [Kamari] Ramsey would fit the bill from USC as well”.
As for the Steelers’ actual draft plans, I’m inclined to think that safety is in play in the first round. The McNeil-Warren pre-draft visit helps add a little more punch to that theory, but it’s been a prevailing narrative all offseason. If Pittsburgh really likes Jaquan Brisker as much as Matt Williamson seems to think, though, then perhaps there’s something there.
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