The Steelers select Michigan TE Colston Loveland In Pro Football Talk’s one and only mock draft, which will raise eyebrows. One position the team has is tight end, so it’s not exactly a screaming need. Having just signed Pat Freiermuth to a long-term extension in 2024, they are very unlikely to make this move.
With that said, taking Loveland here would approach a “best player available” approach for the Steelers. Most mock drafts I’ve seen—not that I make a habit of seeking them out—typically have him going in the teens. While most have Tyler Warren as their top tight end in this class, some believe Loveland deserves that billing.
But, again, the Steelers have Freiermuth, and Darnell Washington, so why Colston Loveland from Pro Football Talk? They offer no reasoning, just a list of names, so what’s the deal? The first step to making sense of a mock-draft selection is to examine what’s available, so let’s do that.
When the Steelers select Loveland in this mock, among those still on the board are DL Derrick Harmon, DL Walter Nolen, QB Shedeur Sanders, and QB Jaxson Dart. Not that it’s relevant to the Steelers’ selection, but he doesn’t even have Dart and Nolen going in the first round. For what it’s worth, WRs Emeka Egbuka and Luther Burden III are still available, too.
Suffice it to say that the draft won’t unfold the way PFT’s mock does, though that’s true of all mocks. But mocking TE Colston Loveland to the Steelers has to be one of the weirder ones we’ve seen. Again, in terms of value, it would be a prudent move, but does it make sense for them?
It sounds like the Steelers want to trade down in the first round, and with Loveland there, they likely would. Somebody would probably want to take him at 21, and Pittsburgh would still have two top defensive linemen and two quarterbacks to choose from.
It’s not impossible that the Steelers draft a tight end, in a scenario in which Loveland falls to them. Earlier this month, Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette left the door open for that possibility. But it’s hard to see them going in that direction if multiple top defensive linemen are still available. While RBs Ashton Jeanty and Omarion Hampton are off the board, all others are also available.
Obviously, OC Arthur Smith likes tight ends, but this move, in my mind, only really makes sense if they don’t view Washington as a long-term option. And perhaps they don’t, given previously-reported medical concerns about his knees. He still has two years on his rookie contract, though. Still, it’s not every year that a top tight end is available in the 20s, so it’s worth considering. Even in that case, though, this one is very hard to sell, given the Steelers’ other needs.
