Cornerback has frequently been named as a position of need for the Steelers entering the draft, and the team is unsurprisingly doing its homework on some of the top options in the 2023 class. Among the invitees to Pittsburgh’s Thursday visit is Oregon product Christian Gonzalez (Twitter link via Mark Kaboly of The Athletic). 
Gonzalez spent the first two seasons of his career at Colorado, but put himself on the first-round radar in 2022 in his lone campaign with the Ducks. He notched the only four interceptions of his college tenure at Oregon, adding a career-high seven pass breakups along the way. That helped put him in the conversation for the draft’s top corner this year, along with the likes of Devon Witherspoon, Joey Porter Jr., Deonte Banks and Emmanuel Forbes as probable first round-locks.
The Steelers met with Porter on a local visit last week, which came as no surprise given his connections to the team through his father along with his skillset. Gonzalez sports a similar length to Porter (6-2), but is generally viewed as a better athlete. That could give him a higher upside, and put him in contention to hear his name called in the first half of Day 1.
Pittsburgh owns the No. 17 pick, which should put them in range for at least most of the CB prospects available. An early addition at the position would come as no surprise, since the Steelers saw Cameron Sutton depart in free agency. His loss was only partially (and, in all likelihood, temporarily) filled by the signing of Patrick Peterson. The 32-year-old could see time at safety as he moves further into the latter stages of his career.
Peterson is the only outside addition the team has made so far in free agency, so at least one notable selection is likely to be used on bolstering the cornerbacks room. The Steelers hold pick No. 32 (a second-rounder this season), which will give them another opportunity to land an impact cover man, though Gonzalez is expected to be off the board by that point.
Smoke screen.
Why? They invite like 30 kids in like this. They can’t all be smoke screens. And in all truth, I don’t know that’s there is a better CB than this kid
also,
did anyone else not know that Devon Witherspoon is the younger brother of Akhello ???
there may be some options to trade up. a lot of value on 17 and 49
could honestly see them trade up with both picks because teams in the late 20’s save a lot of money by moving to 32 , if there’s someone like Addison/Wright available at 27 (Bills) etc.
I doubt Gonzalez is still available at 17 but the Steelers need a long term plan at the cornerback position so I’d expect them to host several corners on visits. They could trade up for one but it’s more likely they’re just doing due diligence. I’ve read/heard Tomlin reference several times over the years that they’ve had interest in players they sign as free agents back when they came out in their draft years for instance.
Again, the tour of prospective draft picks is routine. Last I heard, the Steelers had 30 coming in
It’s always interesting at this time of year to watch the arc on player interest. Some guys come off of their season and are of high interest and then fade after the combine and pro days. With others, it’s the exact opposite
To me, Gonzalez has now surpassed JPJ and Witherspoon in terms of hype. The guy is a very good player with good size and someone who’d really help the Steelers but like you, since he’s become a hot commodity I’d doubt he’ll be around
And I tend to agree with @Goku here
Maybe the plan has been to trade up all along. Khan and Weidl seem to be aggressive and intent on addressing needs. Secondary? O-line? Maybe grab the Georgia stud on the D-line who has a penchant for fast cars?
Sitting in the middle of the first round and having the first pick in the second round gives the team lots of options. My personal best case scenario would be for them to stay put at 17 and take the best corner available then use 32 to move back into the first round around #26-28 and get an OT but obviously everything depends upon what happens in front of them.
Edit: I think Carter is probably off their list. Steelers have historically stayed away from players with character issues in the draft and I certainly wouldn’t expect them to trade up for him because this year’s draft class is pretty deep for d-line prospects.
Agree with you except for #32 selection. D-lineman would be nice
Kid won’t be falling down to #17