Prospect visits heavy on lines
Months-long work near end
The Steelers began scouting this year’s group of college prospects last fall and continued to watch them compete in postseason All-Star games, the NFL combine and at their pro days. On Wednesday, the final portion of their draft preparation was completed when they wrapped up their top-30 visits with three more prospects taking visits to their South Side facility.
Next up: The draft finally arrives next Thursday.
Wednesday’s visitors were Michigan inside linebacker Junior Colson, Penn State center Hunter Nourzad and offensive tackle Travis Clayton, a player from the NFL’s International Pathway program.
All NFL teams are allotted 30 prospect visits, not including local college and high school players. The Steelers used all 30 of their official visits along with five local visits.
Of the 35 prospects, 20 were either offensive or defensive linemen (14 offensive linemen and six defensive linemen). The breakdown of the rest: seven cornerbacks, six receivers and two inside linebackers.
Colson ( 6- foot- 2, 238 pounds) is one of the top off-ball linebackers in this draft. He started 36 games over the past three seasons and was named secondteam all-Big Ten in 2022 and 2023.
NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah has Colson as his 44th- ranked player. N.C. State inside linebacker Payton Wilson, who took a visit on Tuesday, is Jeremiah’s 41stranked player.
Nourzad (6-foot-3, 317 pounds) is the fourth center to take a visit to the Steelers. He played his first three seasons in the Ivy League at Cornell before transferring to Penn State in 2022. He started 21 games over the past two seasons, including all 13 games at center last season.
Clayton, who hails from England, will be one of 16 International Pathway program players eligible to be the 17th player on an NFL team’s practice squad this season.