NFL Draft Prospect Opens Up About Formal Meeting With Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers haven’t used a first-round pick on a defensive lineman since taking Cameron Heyward in 2011.

That could change this year, though.

The Steelers very well could target a big body to plop onto their defensive when they get on the clock with the No. 21 overall pick. And not many come bigger than Michigan junior defensive tackle Kenneth Grant, who is listed at 6-foot-3 and 342 pounds.

Grant revealed Wednesday from the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis that he had a formal meeting with the Steelers as the franchise does its due diligence on the interior lineman.

“Very serious,” Grant told reporters of the meeting with the Steelers, per the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Joe Rutter. “They want competitors. They want dudes that are ready to go.”

The Steelers also want a player who can help them shore up their run defense. Pittsburgh got gashed on the ground to the tune of 299 yards in its AFC wild-card loss to the Baltimore Ravens this past season.

Grant projects as someone who could help in that regard. Grant was a key cog in the trenches on Michigan’s national championship team and then turned in 32 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss with 3 sacks and five pass breakups to earn Third Team Associated Press All-American honors this past season.

“I think I’m more athletic than some of these guys,” Grant said. “There are some pretty good athletes in this class. And I’m intelligent. I know a lot of football.”

Other defensive linemen the Steelers could consider with their first-round pick are Mississippi’s Walter Nolen, Oregon’s Derrick Harmon and Texas A&M’s Shemar Stewart, per Rutter.

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