NFL Draft preview: Steelers have 3 viable options if they elect to take center in early rounds
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Perhaps the worst-kept secret in the NFL is the Pittsburgh Steelers are targeting a center early in the draft, most likely using the No. 20 overall pick to address a position of need.
Center, of course, is the one position on the roster where the Steelers don’t have a definitive starter after their release of Mason Cole in February.
The Steelers didn’t fill the position in free agency or via trade, leaving the draft as the remaining option on the offseason docket.
And it’s not as if the Steelers have been shy about their intentions. In the final week when teams could conduct top-30 visits with prospects, the Steelers brought the top three centers to UPMC Rooney Sports Complex.
It’s just a matter of whether Oregon’s Jackson Powers-Johnson, West Virginia’s Zach Frazier or Duke’s Graham Barton will be wearing the black and gold next season.
To NFL analysts, the Steelers can’t go wrong with any of their choices.
“I think all three of those guys would be plug-and-play guys,” NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah said. “All of those guys can move you at the point of attack, and all are over 310 pounds and they are athletic.”
The Steelers have been seeking a long-term solution in the pivot since Maurkice Pouncey retired after the 2020 season. They used a third-round pick on Kendrick Green in the 2021 draft, but with most of his college experience at guard, he was the proverbial square peg in a round hole.
Cole was signed in free agency the following year and made 34 consecutive starts over the past two seasons. But Cole was plagued by erratic snaps, and the Steelers released him with a year remaining on his contract.
And so, the Steelers are tasked with finding a center to follow in the footsteps of Pouncey and Pro Football Hall of Famers Dermontti Dawson and Mike Webster.
“Centers and head coaches, they last forever with the Steelers,” ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said. “Centers have been the anchor of their lines for forever. They have to get that guy.”
Powers-Johnson, a 6-foot-3, 328-pound junior, won the Rimington Award as the nation’s top center in 2023. But that was his only season as a starter at Oregon. His previous four starts came at right guard (two), left guard and even defensive tackle.
Powers-Johnson is the highest-rated center on most draft experts’ board.
“You can’t go through him,” Jeremiah said. “He just kind of catches guys and absorbs them in pass pro. He is quick to the second level, and he’s good on combo blocks. He has some nasty to him. He’s a bulldog who has got some real snap and pop in his hands.”
Frazier, who measured 6-3, 313 pounds at the NFL Combine, has the most experience of the trio. He started four seasons at West Virginia, the final three at center, and was a first-team all-conference pick the past two seasons.
Frazier grades as a borderline first-round pick, which presents a dilemma for the Steelers. If they don’t use their first-round pick on a center, there is no guarantee Frazier will be around when it’s their turn in the second.
Rising rapidly on draft boards is Duke’s Barton, who is 6-5, 313 pounds. Barton spent the past three seasons as Duke’s starting left tackle after making five starts at center as a freshman. He is projected to move back inside in the NFL, although his experience at tackle could weigh in his favor with the Steelers, who like their linemen to be versatile.
“You can draft him and call him an offensive lineman,” ESPN analyst Field Yates said. “I think he’s the best run blocking offensive lineman among interior linemen in his draft class. He would help the Steelers pretty much in every way. If it’s structured plays or pass protection or if it’s making holes, they are going to run the football. He’s one of the most well-rounded, versatile offensive linemen in the draft.”