Apr 21, 2020 5 min read

Roger Goodell won’t get booed.

The Pittsburgh Steelers won’t have a first-round draft pick for the first time since 1967.

When the Steelers do make their first selection, which will be the 49th overall pick, in the middle of the second round, Friday night, general manager Kevin Colbert could do so in his pajamas.

Goodell won’t have players grace the stage, shake his hand or give him a hug. Instead, he will be announcing each team’s selections from his basement.

Isolation.

Social distancing.

Our versions of life that have turned into the new normal.

But for three days, starting when the NFL Draft beings Thursday night, we go back to the old normal . . . no matter how strange it might look.

Fans get back to what reeled us in to loving sports in the first place – unpredictably. The feeling of unpredictably, which seems to headline our lives in every second of every day, will be a positive for few a few nights.

I’ll join Colbert from a distance in my pajamas – the only wardrobe choice I’ve had to make in the last month is what to wear to bed – and enjoy every minute of what this draft has to offer.

Give me unpredictable for those three days.

Give me the classic jaw-droppers of the draft, picks that make you shake your head because you know that you’re the expert.

Give me situations like what Bears general manager Ryan Pace encountered when his wife vacuumed and unplugged all his computer monitors during the NFL’s test of the virtual draft Monday.

Give me the technical glitches on the very first pick, which belongs to the Cincinnati Bengals. Let’s not kid ourselves, a glitch might actually help the Bengals.

Give me the Cleveland Browns selecting another quarterback. Yeah, don’t put anything past the Browns.

Sports fans want it. They will take anything right now.

ESPN’s documentary series “The Last Dance” about the Chicago Bulls in the late 1990s, which debuted Sunday night, drew more than 6.1 million viewers.

The only dancing now is being done by ESPN because of those numbers. I understand that we watch documentaries for the details, and from what I’ve heard because I wasn’t one of the 6.1 million, it was a great start to the 10-part series.

• So where do the Steelers do with their first draft pick?

They probably fall under the category of selecting the best player available – not a bad situation to be in when there are 48 selections before they pick. There are several ways they could go and it would still make sense.

The Steelers only have six picks in this year after shipping away their first-round selection to Miami in September in return for safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick’s sidekick in the secondary, Terrell Edmunds, could be a free agent after this season if the Steelers don’t pick up the fifth-year option. So safety is a need.

Nose tackle Javon Hargave left for the Philadelphia Eagles in free agency. A run-plugging defensive lineman is a possibility, but to replace a guy that played fewer than 50% of the defensive snaps in three of his four seasons shouldn’t be the top priority. That’s a spot you can fill in a later round.

Depth at both edge rusher and inside linebacker are desperately needed. Value at those positions might not be there, at least with their first pick.

It’s not just on defense where the Steelers could use talent.

Their offensive line is aging, so finding potential starters for the future could be a direction to go. Many believe this is a deep wide receiver class and first-round values could slide all the way to when the Steelers make their first selection. Clemson’s Tee Higgins, TCU’s Jalen Reagor, Arizona State’s Brandon Aiyuk, Baylor’s Denzel Mims, Colorado’s Laviska Shenault Jr., USC’s Michael Pittman Jr. and Penn State’s K.J. Hamler could be in play.

The position that might make the most sense at No. 49 is running back, but that will come with the Steelers coming to grips with two things. First, that James Conner is not a starting running back. Second, that the pick of Benny Snell in last year’s fourth round was a waste. Not that Snell, or Conner for that matter, will be useless in the offense. But if you select a running back with the first pick then they should be the guy in your offense.

Why a running back?

Conner can’t stay healthy. And even if he stays healthy, will anybody believe he’s worth a second contract when becoming an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season?

Aside from a four-game stretch in the middle of the 2018 season when he eclipsed 100 yards in each game, Conner hasn’t been reliable, both from productivity and availability standpoints. He’s played in 37 games, including 22 starts, and outside of that four-week stretch has rushed for more than 65 yards in a game only two times.

There are five names to watch: Georgia’s D’Andre Swift, Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor, Ohio State’s J.K. Dobbins, LSU’s Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Florida State’s Cam Akers. Most of those players will be picked beforehand but each would be an upgrade over the current situation.

The Steelers need another playmaker, and the offensive ineptitude without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger last year really emphasized that fact.

No matter what position the Steelers address, I know I’ll be watching.