Steelers Now
MOBILE, Ala. — The first day of practice for the 2025 Senior Bowl is in the books, and the Pittsburgh Steelers were active as always in scouting for 2025 NFL Draft prospects.
The Steelers sent the house to Mobile, with general manger Omar Khan and head coach Mike Tomlin flanked by coordinators Arthur Smith and Teryl Austin on the field and a whole bevy of scouts and executives in the skybox.
That group spent a whole lot of time focused on the defensive line position, but what about some overall takeaways from the first practice session of the draft season?
Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart, Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard, Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel, Louisville’s Tyler Shough, Memphis’ Seth Henigana nd Canadian Tyler Elgersma are the quarterbacks, and this was not a session that I’d consider an above-average performance from any of them.
Jim Nagy said on Monday that there isn’t a quarterback here that would’ve cracked the top six last season, and if this session is any indication, I’d agree.
Not sure why both Milroe and Dart are on the same team. They’re the best prospects at the position. Dart was OK on Tuesday. He was able to showcase his arm strength a bit. Milroe, asked to stand still in the pocket and throw to a spot in the structured environment, looked like it was the first time he’d ever done that in his life. Milroe is an elite athlete, but playing within structure may be a challenge.
Leonard didn’t have a lot of zip on his passes. Gabriel did, but without much in terms of accuracy.
Some lackluster quarterback play didn’t help this wide receiver group, but no one really bailed out their quarterback, either. Iowas State’s Jayden Higgins had the best play of this group that I saw. He also has the kind of frame at 6-foot-3 3/4 that makes sense for the Steelers, who really need an outside-only type of player.
Other wide receiver standouts included Jack Bech, Tai Felton and Jalen Royals.
The Azareye’h Thomas from Florida State is the star prospect here, probably the best on the entire National Team, and there wasn’t a wide receiver that got the best of him on Tuesday. The evaluations here were pretty tough, as there weren’t a lot of competitive throws to grade on.
Louisville’s Quincy Riley, Virginia Tech’s Dorian Strong, Kentucky’s Maxwell Hairston and Trey Amos all also had productive days. Cornerback seems like a fairly deep group here and in the 2025 NFL Draft class overall.
I was excited to get a look at Oklahoma State running back Ollie Gordon II, but I didn’t come away particularly impressed. This is a hard setting to evaluate running backs. You have lineman that don’t even know each other’s names trying to execute a blocking scheme they just learned. But Gordon’s high pad level and lack of...
