ESPN’s Jordan Reid took on the massive undertaking of a full seven-round mock draft for the 2023 NFL draft. There is no more thankless task and so we wanted to give him a fair shot and take a look at the picks for the Pittsburgh Steelers and see how he did. Props to you Jordan, this was a massive amount of work.
First round - OT Darnell Wright, Tennessee
Second round - S Brian Branch, Alabama
Second round - LB Trenton Simpson
Third round - CB Darius Rush, South Carolina
Fourth round- EDGE Caleb Murphy, Ferris State
Seventh round - DL Brodric Martin, Western Kentucky
Seventh round - WR Jalen Moreno-Cropper, Fresno State
Breaking down the picks
In looking over the full mock draft, it’s really hard to find fault with how this plays out. Darnell is a fast riser and a definite upgrade over Dan Moore Jr. We give Reid a pass on the Brian Branch pick since it happened ahead of the Steelers agreeing to terms with Keanu Neal. This doesn’t mean Branch can’t still be in play, however.
Getting Trenton Simpson is a huge steal but looking at how the picks played out, it could happen. The rest of the mock draft plays out pretty safe for the Steelers including South Carolina cornerback Darius Rush. The “other” cornerback at South Carolina last season, Rush is a real sleeper pick with his size and speed.
The most interesting pick might be Western Kentucky defensive tackle Brodric Martin. He’s a mountain of a man at 6-foot-5 and 337 pounds and has the potential to be everything Dan McCullers was supposed to be.
