Steelers head to NFL Combine 'very comfortable' with no 1st-round pick

For the first time since the NFL Combine took up residence in Indianapolis in 1987, the Pittsburgh Steelers will head to the event without a first-round pick.

In fact, you’d have to go back 20 more years — long before NFL execs decided to gather in one location to evaluate talent — to find a draft where the Steelers didn’t hold a first-round selection.

Still, it will be business as usual for general manager Kevin Colbert and his staff this week as they evaluate the college talent at the combine that will fortify their roster later in the offseason.

“We’re very comfortable with where we are in that regard,” Colbert said earlier this month.

It’s not just a first-round pick the Steelers are lacking. They also don’t have a selection in the third and fifth rounds, though they do have two in the fourth. And it’s expected they will receive a compensatory pick at the end of the third round for losing running back Le’Veon Bell and others in free agency.

The capital won’t be the same as 2019, when the Steelers ended up with nine selections even after trading up to select inside linebacker Devin Bush with the No. 10 overall pick.

“Can that change? Of course. We always talk about trading up, trading back, trade this, trade that,” Colbert said. “We never close that door.”

The Steelers will remain open-minded about their evaluations even if it’s likely they will watch 48 players go off the board before it’s their time to pick on the second day of the draft.

“Even when we were picking 32nd (after winning the Super Bowl), we still were looking and evaluating the players we thought were going 1 through 10,” Colbert said. “That won’t change this year. When we get into our mock draft scenarios, and we don’t have that first-round pick, we’ll probably take 20 guys out and say there’s no way they are getting to 18 in the second round.

“We’ll remove them and work from there. Right now, it’s a little different. We’re hoping we have six picks. We hope to get a comp pick, and that will give us six.”

Although the evaluation of potential draft picks won’t change, the environment in which it will take place in Indianapolis will be different than in recent years. The combine has undergone a radical makeover thanks, in part, to television.

For the first time, on-field workouts such as the 40-yard dash will shift from the morning and afternoon to late afternoon and prime-time slots to gain maximum TV exposure. Events begin Thursday night and run through the weekend.

With the events being held at night, interviews between prospects and NFL personnel will shift to earlier times. And instead of the customary allotment of 60 15-minute interviews NFL teams could schedule in Indianapolis, they are permitted 45 interviews, with the time increasing to 18 minutes per prospect.

The events also have been tweaked, with 16 new ones joining the schedule and others being eliminated.

Among the new events are end-zone fade routes for quarterbacks, wide receivers and tight ends; and shuttle, sprint and change-of-direction drills for linebackers. Defensive backs will encounter a drill named after Steelers senior defensive assistant Teryl Austin that involves players backpedaling and breaking at various angles.

“It’s been long overdue to have our evaluation tools match where the game is,” NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said. “I’m encouraged by that. I think it’s going to be a fun part of the combine. It’s going to be refreshing to see some of these new drills.”

The new-look combine, however, isn’t for everyone, and not every NFL staff will be on hand.

The Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Rams are among teams scaling back their attendance at the combine. The Broncos will leave their assistant coaches at home to work on scouting. Rams coach Sean McVay will fulfill his media obligations but will spend just one night in Indianapolis before returning to Los Angeles to work with the three coordinators he recently hired.

“You’re going to get all the numbers,” ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said. “But the interviews are important. The medical (information) is key, and getting those interviews is something that is huge for these teams.”

Those interviews likely will take place at a college pro day or one of the 30 pre-draft visits NFL teams are permitted to conduct.

“I think it’s a lost opportunity if you’re a coach, and you don’t get a chance to be in the room to be around these guys,” Jeremiah said. “It’s just another point of contact that I think can really help you. With the changes … I know talking to buddies around the league, they’re just kind of skeptical. They just want to see how it comes together. It’s all new to them. So I think you’ll have a better feel for how they like it after we get through the week.”