By JOE RUTTER

The Tribune-Review, Greensburg

(TNS) —After spending five draft picks over the past two years on the offensive line, including three on the interior, the Pittsburgh Steelers are expected to use their resources elsewhere this year.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that coach Mike Tomlin is sold on the group he will take into organized team activities next month.

“I feel like we have some guys that are certainly capable of the role,” Tomlin said late last month at the NFL annual meeting. “But to say that as I sit here today, would be untrue. I don’t know who I’m going to end up with or who I’m going to be in position to consider.”

The decisions along the interior were made a bit easier by the play last year of two linemen the Steelers selected in the 2024 draft. Second-round pick Zach Frazier started at center for 15 of the 17 regular- season games and was in the pivot for the playoff loss at Baltimore. Fourth-round pick Mason McCormick started 14 games, moving into that role permanently after veteran James Daniels was lost to a season-ending Achilles injury. Spencer Anderson, a seventh-round pick from 2023, started four games and filled in for an injured McCormick in the postseason game at Baltimore.

With Isaac Seumalo returning for his third season at left guard, the Steelers would appear to have their starters along the interior set for 2024. They also re-signed backup guard Max Scharping and No. 2 center Ryan McCollum, while adding another veteran, Lecitus Smith, in free agency.

If the Steelers add another lineman to the mix, it likely would be on the third day as a developmental prospect. Consider that the Steelers didn’t use any of their 30 official pre-draft visits on offensive linemen, although West Virginia guard Wyatt Milum was brought in as a local visitor March 6.

Milum is projected to go in the third or fourth round.

When the Steelers scouted McCormick last year at South Dakota State, they likely couldn’t help but notice another guard prospect from the FCS Missouri Valley Conference. Grey Zabel of North Dakota State is arguably the top player at his position and could be selected in the first round because of his versatility.

“You can play him anywhere if you need to,” ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said. “He can be a guard or center. As a guard, I love the kid.”

NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah believes Zabel could play tackle in a pinch. Zabel rose on Jeremiah’s draft board based on his showing at the Senior Bowl.

“He’s got really good balance, he’s always under control, and he’s never on the ground,” Jeremiah said. “He’s got strong hands. He’s really aware in terms of seeing things and picking things up.”

Two other contenders to be picked on the first day of the draft are traditional Power 5 prospects in Alabama’s Tyler Booker and Ohio State’s Donovan Jackson. Both are guards.

“Booker is one of the more consistent players that I’ve watched in this class,” Jeremiah said.

“He’s big. He’s powerful.

He’s someone that when you talk to the folks at Alabama, they just rave about him in terms of the work ethic, the leadership.”

Kiper said Booker’s unimpressive testing at the NFL Combine where he ran the 40-yard dash in 5.38 seconds, could push him into the second round. The top center prospect is Georgia’s Jared Wilson, who only started for one season but displayed rare athleticism for the position at the combine. His 4.84 time in the 40 was the fastest of all offensive linemen that tested that week. He also had a 10-yard split of 1.72 seconds that tied for second fastest.

“He takes good angles at the second level,” Jeremiah said. “Real firm.

He’s aware on twists.

He can recover and stay attached. I think he’s an elite athlete. He just really doesn’t get beat.”