Pre-NFL Draft visits are often overblown or misunderstood
The 2023 NFL Draft is quickly approaching but all 32 teams, including the Pittsburgh Steelers, continue to host individual players ahead of the big event as they evaluate talent and set their draft boards. The Steelers addressed several positional needs through free agency, but the visits they’ve held with draft prospects – or scheduled – aren’t necessarily indicative of who they’re planning on selecting. In fact, visits are often overblown or misunderstood by fans and analysts alike.
Each NFL team is allotted 30 individual privately-hosted visits to their facilities for interviews, physicals, and evaluations. There are some league exceptions for local players. Pro Day dinner meetings are also recorded. Phone calls, or virtual visits, are not counted against that top 30 limit.
But do those visits really mean the hosting team is investing in the individual(s) they bring in for that particular NFL Draft?
It certainly adds fuel to the significant speculation that abounds at this time of every new league year when a team is announced as having met with… well, insert player name. With only 30 official visits, the appearance is that a team would be foolish to entertain a player they had zero interest in.
There are reasons, though, that teams’ pre-draft visits, or lack thereof, are utilized in ways that offer zero indication of what those teams may actually do on draft days.
A pre-draft visit isn’t a job interview, although prior injury and criminal histories are often discussed. If a team highly values an individual, they want to know what they may, or may not, get in the form of attitude, coachability, maturity, or potential injury-related setbacks. Those things can often reset draft boards as player values rise and fall leading up to the selection days.
Often, teams are interested in future potential. They may not see enough to fill an immediate need, but they’re interested in finding out what a player may look like, say, at the end of that player’s rookie contract. Maybe it’s a question of how well the player may adapt to NFL play versus collegiate ball. It could also be to gauge whether that player indicates a negative or positive attitude toward playing for that club.
Remember, there’s psychology involved with player evaluations and teams are not shy about including it in ways that may affect how other teams adjust and prioritize their own draft boards.
At times, a player may carry a high draft grade but the team that hosts them for a private visit does not need a player at that position. Call these “curiosity” visits. Pro Days and the NFL Combine are rapid evaluations that do not include all draftable players and do not allot excess time to focus on a single player.
A team may even have a player in for a visit because they’re curious about a teammate or opposing player that individual has ties to. Sneaky, huh?
Saying all that, the Steelers have hosted, evaluated, scheduled, and spoken with that have a higher probability of being selected this year than others.
Here is a current (as of 4 April 2023, 3:30 pm Central) list of players counting against Pittsburgh’s top 30 due to official visits:
- WR Jonathan Mingo (Ol’e Miss)
- OL John Michael Schmitz (Minnesota)
- OL Cody Mauch (North Dakota St.)
- WR Charlie Jones (Purdue)
- EDGE Tuli Tuipulotu (USC)
- CB Julius Brents (Kansas St.)
- DL Keeanu Benton (Wisconsin)
- OG Chandler Zavala (NC State)
- S Tanner Ingle (NC State)
- CB Deonte Banks (Maryland)
Players reportedly scheduled for a visit:
- OT Dawand Jones (Ohio State)
- DB Emmanuel Forbes (Mississippi State)
- DL Gervon Dexter (Florida)
- OL O’Cyrus Torrence (Florida)
- OG Steve Avila (TCU)
- CB Kelee Ringo (Georgia)
- CB Tyrique Stevenson (Miami -Fla.)
- S Daniel Scott (Cal)
- WR Jayden Reed (Mich. St.)
Players reported to have unofficially met with the team:
- CB Joey Porter, Jr. (Penn State)
There are some trends among visits and scheduled visits that have sparked interest by fans and “draft gurus,” and subsequently shown up in mock drafts. With both defensive line and offensive line an area those mentioned above have prioritized for the Steelers, two players from Florida look promising… on paper.
The fact that both Dexter and Torrence are scheduled, however, may indicate Pittsburgh is interested in only one of them; having both visit to give insight on each others’ experience playing opposite each other in practice, for example. They may be seeking insight into a player on a team the Florida players faced, though.
Banking on who the Steelers will select in the draft, based on visits or reports of scheduled and/or virtual meetings, is a complete gamble.
Is it fun to try to predict the moves? Absolutely. Can trends end up being fulfilled? Yes.
In 2021, Najee Harris was high on the list of probable picks for the Steelers in the first round. In that case, the trend and predictions swung in favor of prognosticators and mock draft “experts.” Other years, those same insiders were completely shocked when Pittsburgh went a completely different direction, however. In fact, most mock drafts are wildly inaccurate.
Enjoy the pre-draft excitement. It’s a long traditional period in the NFL that generates renewed excitement over a favorite team’s future. But predictor beware: overblown and misunderstood “visits” are often mock draft busters than can lead to a false sense of security and/or disappointment after it’s all said and done.
