The Pittsburgh Steelers made a few moves to shore up their roster in free agency. Perhaps their biggest signing was Darius Slay. He was brought in to be Joey Porter Jr.’s running mate this year. However, at 34 years old, it’s unclear how good Slay will be in 2025. Therefore, the Steelers could target a corner in the draft, maybe even in the first round. In his latest mock draft, CBS Sports analyst Mike Renner gave the Steelers Michigan corner Will Johnson with their round one pick. Renner recently explained why he thinks Johnson could fit in Pittsburgh.

“If you put him across from Joey Porter Jr., not a lot of wide receivers are gonna be getting into their routes very quickly,” Renner said recently on CBS Sports HQ. “I’m putting those two guys at the line of scrimmage play after play and just saying, ‘Try to get around us.’ I think that cornerback duo would be the most physical cornerback duo in the NFL, and that just screams Pittsburgh Steelers to me.”

Going into last season, Johnson was projected to be among the top players selected in the 2025 draft. However, injuries derailed him in 2024. Johnson only played in five games, which may have hurt his stock. Now, it’s reasonable that he could fall to the Steelers’ pick at 21, despite his immense talent.

Although he didn’t play much last year, Johnson still looked like a great player. He’s also got the ideal size for the position, coming in at just under 6’2” and weighing around 200 pounds. In recent years, the Steelers have shown they value those intangibles with their corners.

Porter and Cory Trice Jr. are good examples. Both of them are absolutely massive for their position. However, there are questions about Johnson’s athleticism. Because of his injury issues, he didn’t participate in much of the pre-draft process. While he did hold his own workout recently, he didn’t run a 40-yard dash, so questions about his speed remain.

There’s no denying that Johnson was a great player in college, though. Despite his lack of special athleticism, he was still very effective. If he ends up in Pittsburgh, the Steelers would likely get a solid player to pair with Porter long-term.

However, it feels unlikely that Johnson will be the Steelers’ pick at 21, even if he falls to them. At the moment, it doesn’t look like the Steelers are bringing him in as part of their top 30 pre-draft visits. Usually, their first-round pick is a player from that list.

The Steelers didn’t bring in many corners for visits, so that position might not be a top priority for them. They might feel comfortable with Slay and Porter, hoping Trice could develop into a starter. Even though Johnson is a top player at his position in the draft, the Steelers might decide to go in a different direction.