Steelers coach Mike Tomlin offered some praise for Football Team rookie defensive end Chase Young during Monday’s game, by saying Tomlin wouldn’t want to be able to draft a player as good as Young.
In footage shot by NFL Films, Tomlin approached Young on the field and told him that he would never want to pick high enough to take someone like Young.
“I don’t ever want to lose enough games to get a guy like you,” Tomlin told Young. “You’ve got to lose 14, 15 games to get a guy who looks like you.”
Washington took Young with the second overall pick in this year’s NFL draft, and that’s territory where Tomlin doesn’t tread. Since Tomlin became the Steelers’ head coach in 2007, the highest they’ve ever drafted was No. 10 overall in 2019, and to get that pick they had to trade up from No. 20. The Steelers just don’t draft high enough to get the truly elite prospects like Young, and Tomlin wants to keep it that way.