Did Steelers HC Mike Tomlin tip his hand about Pittsburgh’s NFL draft plan?

The Pittsburgh Steelers needs for the 2024 NFL draft become more and more clear after the first wave of free agency. After releasing center Mason Cole and trading away wide receiver Diontae Johnson, these are the team’s two top needs. As a third option, offensive tackle and upgrading one starting spot makes sense as well.

But when head coach Mike Tomlin spoke to the media from the NFL Annual Meeting in Orlando, he might have tipped his hand about the direction Pittsburgh will go in the first round. Tomlin noted that there are only a few centers in the upcoming draft that are plug-and-play.

Tomlin said needs to be work done at center and receiver. Still options out there in free agency but believes there many WR that can come in a contribute ASAP and a handful of centers in draft. But also said after a couple centers in draft, it will likely not be plug and play

— Mark Kaboly (@MarkKaboly) March 24, 2024

If the Steelers are targeting a center early, there are really four players they should be looking at closely. We’ve talked at length about Washington’s Troy Fautanu, Duke’s Graham Barton, Oregon’s Jackson Powers-Johnson and West Virginia’s Zach Frazier. These are the four guys who could come in and start in Week One and there’s a real chance one of them is the Steelers first-round pick.