First Call: Sleepers may prove to be biggest contributors from 2020 Steelers draft - TribLIVE

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NFL first-round picks are usually supposed to contribute in at least some significant capacity as rookies. Just look at the Steelers’ track record over the past decade.

Maurkice Pouncey started all 16 games as a rookie center in 2010. T.J. Watt started 15 at outside linebacker in 2017. David DeCastro and Ryan Shazier may have been close to the same situation if injuries didn’t get in the way.

As a first-year player in 2018, Terrell Edmunds led the team in combined defensive and special teams snaps (1,189). Even guys who washed out at the end of their first contracts, such as Artie Burns and Jarvis Jones, started about half the games of their initial seasons.

Before the third contest of 2019, the Steelers traded their 2020 first-round draft choice to the Miami Dolphins for second-year safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. Along with Devin Bush, the organization essentially gave themselves two first-round picks in one season.

Fitzpatrick played at least 95% of the defensive snaps every game over the last 14 weeks. Bush was on the field 82% of the time in his first campaign.

Because of the price to pay to get Fitzpatrick, the Steelers don’t have the luxury of a first-round player to be injected into this year’s mix. Also, the draft picks the Steelers did use this spring tended to be at positions where there may not be a clear-cut path to starting-level playing time.

Second-rounder Chase Claypool will begin the year behind at least three wide receivers on the depth chart: JuJu Smith-Schuster, Diontae Johnson and James Washington.

Third-rounder Alex Highsmith will be battling for a backup linebacker spot behind both Watt and Bud Dupree. Fourth-round running back Anthony McFarland will enter camp as one of six running backs in the mix for various duties. And if sixth-rounder Antoine Brooks gets on the field, it’ll likely be as a special teamer and as an occasional dime linebacker or third safety.

That leaves two candidates with the most obvious roadmap to the top of the depth chart at their given positions.

If fourth-round guard Kevin Dotson really flashes in training camp and the preseason, it’s possible he could claim the starting left guard spot vacated by Ramon Foster. He’d have to outperform free agent signee Stefan Wisniewski to do that. And the Steelers may also consider moving Matt Feiler to that slot if they feel either Zach Banner or Chuks Okorafor have become capable as starting tackles.

“(Dotson) brings flexibility to the room and gives us options,” offensive line coach Shaun Sarrett said after Dotson was drafted. “At the end of the day, the best five will start. I think this guy is realistically that guy that can go in and compete for the spot.”

Strange as it may sound, seventh-round defensive lineman Carlos Davis may have as good of a chance as any in this year’s class to earn a regular role. After all, Javon Hargrave left for Philadelphia as a free agent. The Steelers didn’t draft or sign anyone with much NFL pedigree to be a nose tackle in their base 3-4 defense.

Two factors, though.

First of all, Davis is only a seventh rounder. Secondly, the “base defense” and “starting nose tackles” have become misnomers. The Steelers may start their base 3-4. But it is often deployed only about 30% of the time.

“It’s best when you have a nose that is versatile in today’s game,” coach Mike Tomlin said after the team’s virtual rookie workouts. “There’s just not a lot of opportunities for those guys to have an impact if they’re nose only. That’s what added value to Javon’s portfolio. He was also a capable sub-package rusher.”

That said, Davis seems to have the “swing” capabilities that Hargrave flashed by the end of his time in Pittsburgh. He played strictly as a nose at Nebraska in 2018. Then played more end in 2019.

Like Hargrave, Davis is 6-foot-2. He’s 320 pounds. That’s roughly 15 pounds heavier than Hargrave.

“The nose (in the Steelers defense) is pretty much the same as it was at Nebraska,” Davis said via a recent Zoom interview. “The end spot is a little different. At Nebraska, it was a little bit more about getting up field and containing. With the Steelers, I’m moving a little bit more.”

That skillset would come in handy since Hargrave went from getting 42% of the snaps in 2018 to 62% in 2019. That wasn’t because of increased reps at nose tackle. That spike resulted because he became effective enough as a pass rusher in the front four on passing plays. He soaked up a lot of the snaps vacated when Stephon Tuitt was injured early in the season.

Hargrave only had four sacks. But he had 43 pressures. Via the Philadelphia Inquirer, no other NFL interior lineman with as many snaps (680) had a higher percentage of hurries than Hargrave.

It’s unlikely the Steelers would ask a seventh-round selection to eat up that much responsibility in his rookie season by himself. Other options do exist. Last year’s sixth-round draft choice Isaiah Buggs is a candidate. Ends Tyson AluAlu and Chris Wormley can probably play some nose. And Daniel McCullers is magically still on the roster.

Aside from McCullers, though (only 12% of the defensive snaps in 2019), there’s no obvious veteran incumbent for the job. Like Davis, everyone else is either new to the franchise, or they are being asked to adjust their repertoire.

Or both.

So despite not being picked until the third day of the draft, if the Steelers are looking for on-field responsibility, don’t be stunned if Davis and Dotson contribute as much — if not more — than their more high-profile classmates from this year’s lot.

Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via Twitter. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.

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