Pittsburgh Steelers continue their weird hometown roster trend

During the 2023 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers again continue their weird roster trend, targeting players with connections to the city.  To be fair, Pittsburgh had a strong draft, but they are getting into this weird habit that I think could bite them in the rear end at some point.

At the top of the second round, the Steelers selected Joey Porter Jr, a cornerback from Penn State and the son of Joey Porter, a former Pittsburgh Steeler great.  It was a logical choice for the Steelers surely, and JPJR should fill a big need for them, but this hometown-connection roster trend is weird to me, to say the absolute least.

Last year, they reached for former Pittsburgh Panthers quarterback Kenny Pickett.  Pickett wasn’t close to being a first round quarterback prospect in what was a hilariously weak QB class.  Pickett doesn’t do anything particularly above average as a passer and seems like a low ceiling player playing in a conference with some of the best QBs the league has seen in years.

Years ago, they drafted James Conner, a former Pittsburgh Panther.  Conner never really did much in Pittsburgh and again it felt like the Steelers wanting to create as many homecomings as possible, for whatever reason.

I don’t know, maybe I’m overreacting to something that isn’t much of an issue at all.  I just find it incredibly odd that a professional football team that hasn’t made noise in the playoffs in years does these kind of silly stunts.

However, they did have a very solid 2023 NFL Draft.  They landed a franchise left tackle in Broderick Jones, Keeanu Benton, and Darnell Washington, who fell because of injury concerns.  Pittsburgh Steelers’ GM Omar Khan had a solid draft and did do enough in the offseason to at least give Kenny Pickett a fair shot.

I think if Pickett doesn’t make a notable jump in year two, we could see the Steelers going in a different direction for their franchise QB.