Steelers set to visit with former all-Conference OL Dawand Jones
Pittsburgh takes go big or go home to another level.
The temperature is rising, the flowers are blooming, and the sun is beginning to shine. Sounds like Spring is here right?
Maybe, but what is definitely here…
Draft season!
If you weren't around for the Senior Bowl, maybe you missed the official start, and that's ok.
Hopefully, you caught last week's combine, as most casual fans liken this to the NBA on Christmas, meaning that's the mark to start paying attention.
But if you missed all of that, have no worries because we have the first set of top 30 visits rolling in and they include none other than your Pittsburgh Steelers and a consensus top 40 prospect.
Before we dive into why Jones is meeting with Pittsburgh, let's add some context to what this meeting means.
Top 30 visits can be interpreted one of two ways:
- The visiting player is a priority, and high on a team's draft board.
- The player is garnering interest from a team but they are unlikely to take him.
Seems fairly counterintuitive right?
Welcome to draft season. The next 50 days will be a barrage of smoke screens, deception, and misinformation as teams try and hide who they like, from who they really like.
Now to Dawand Jones.
When you think of offensive linemen, you think of large humans that are somehow athletic enough to protect quarterbacks and create alleys in the run game.
Well nobody in this draft class defies physics more than Dawand Jones. Why is that?
With those kinds of measurements (especially the six-foot-eight part) you would think Jones belongs better in a comic book than on a football field.
But watch enough film of him and you'll quickly see why he's a rare breed.
With arms longer than fire hoses, yet feet quicker than a mouse, Jones is a combination of size, power, and agility that makes him incomparable to past or present tackles.
Now we know Pittsburgh needs to add a mauler to the unit up front. Someone that will get to the second level and punish smaller players pursuing Najee Harris.
But they also need a stout pass protector, one that can afford Kenny Pickett time to target George Pickens downfield, with Jones proving capable in both areas.
Jones has dominated the pre-draft process to this point, kindred to his time at OSU.
Senior Bowl?
NFL Combine?
Aced them both.
Now that we have established a mutual interest between Jones and the Steelers, the coming weeks will tell just how fond of Jones the organization is.
While we will probably never know how his interview with the Rooney's and the personnel department goes, these two are certainly in the "talking" phase of the relationship.
The question now is, are they just better off as friends? Or are these two destined for a multi-year tenure in the NFL?
The answer comes in a little over six weeks.
