The Steelers pre-draft visits are anything but smokescreens

When Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan met with media prior to the 2025 NFL Draft, they spoke openly about several topics. They discussed individual prospects, mainly Shedeur Sanders, but they also spoke about who they bring in for a visit, and where they travel for Pro Days, might be more of a smokescreen than anything else.

What are they referring to when they talk about a smokescreen? Meaning they are publicly showing interest in players which otherwise are not truly interested in bringing in during the 3-day selection process.

As I said earlier, Tomlin said both pre-draft visits and Pro Day stops can mean very little, but when you look at specifically 2025 that wasn’t the case. The Steelers used all 30 of their visits this year, and those bolded were either draft choices or undrafted rookie free agent signings:

Official Pre-Draft Visits

Louisville QB Tyler Shough

Ole Miss DT JJ Pegues

West Virginia OL Wyatt Milum (Local Visit)

Kansas State RB D.J. Giddens

Tennessee RB Dylan Sampson

Iowa DT Yahya Black

TCU WR Savion Williams

Virginia Tech RB Bayshul Tuten

Iowa State WR Jayden Higgins

Pitt PK Ben Sauls (Local Visit)

Texas WR Matthew Golden

Iowa RB Kaleb Johnson

Florida State CB Azareye’h Thomas

Florida State DL Joshua Farmer

Pitt TE Gavin Bartholomew (Local Visit)

Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart

Iowa State WR Jaylin Noel

South Carolina S Nick Emmanwori

Oregon DT Jamaree Caldwell

Ole Miss CB Trey Amos

SMU Defensive Tackle Elijah Roberts

Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders

Oregon DL Derrick Harmon

Oklahoma State RB Ollie Gordon

North Carolina RB Omarion Hampton

UCF RB RJ Harvey

Pitt S Donovan McMillon (Local Visit)

Texas A&M EDGE Shemar Stewart

SMU DT Jared Harrison-Hunte

Syracuse QB Kyle McCord

Toledo DT Darius Alexander

Texas RB Jaydon Blue

Minnesota CB Justin Walley

Ohio State RB TreVeyon Henderson

To take it a step further, a player like Will Howard wasn’t brought in for a visit, but Tomlin and Khan spent a lot of time with him at the Ohio State Pro Day this year.

“I talked to the Steelers at the Combine,” said Howard. “I had a formal interview with them. I had dinner with them before our Pro Day. It just made a lot of sense. From the moment I met Coach (Mike) Tomlin, I was like this is a guy I can play for. I am just so blessed. I am overwhelmed.”

The fact of the matter here is while Tomlin might say there are smokescreens being utilized, these visits and meetings are far too valuable to waste any. If a visit is considered local, that is an opportunity for the team to host a player which doesn’t count towards their limit of 30, but otherwise teams have to evaluate positions and players to help improve their team. There is a reason why of all the players the Steelers officially brought in for a visit, the two positions which had the most players were running back and defensive line.

When you have no idea how the draft is going to go down, you have to do your homework on potential players who could be available when it is your turn to pick.

Check out the breakdown:

QB: 4

DE/DT: 8

OG/C: 1

RB: 9

WR: 4

PK: 1

TE: 1

CB: 3

Safety: 2

EDGE: 1

In fact, since Omar Khan took over as General Manager, all of the team’s 1st Round picks have been in for a pre-draft visit. So, while some fans are clinging to Tomlin’s quote about smokescreens, just know there is more truth to be gleaned from pre-draft visits than you might expect. It doesn’t guarantee they will draft a player from the pre-draft visit crop, but history shows these matter more than you might believe.

Maybe the smokescreens are just for the national media…

Be sure to stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they prepare for the rest of the offseason getting ready for training camp.