Steelers Day 2 picks: Grading Pittsburgh's moves for Joey Porter Jr. and co

The Pittsburgh Steelers traded up to select Broderick Jones in the first round on day one. After moving from 17 to 14th overall, they selected the tackle to help protect Kenny Pickett moving forward. As a result of their wheelings and dealings thus far, they open the second round with the first pick.

Last trade deadline, they swapped Chase Claypool for a second-round pick. That ended up being the first pick in the second round and were looking into swaps for it as many teams wanted to move up. Here's how the Steelers fared on day two.

Grading Pittsburgh Steelers' selections and moves on day two

With their first pick in the second round, the Steelers opted to use the pick rather than trade down. They opted to select cornerback Joey Porter Jr. That's fitting, since his father was a longtime Steeler himself.

This was an excellent pick for the Steelers. ESPN ranked Porter as their fourth overall cornerback and 23rd prospect overall. It was a surprise that he fell to the second round in the first place but Pittsburgh put an end to his slide.

Grade: A+

Coming in with the 49th overall pick, Pittsburgh selected Keeanu Benton. Benton had slid from where many expected him to go. Several teams surprisingly passed on him, but the Steelers didn't make that mistake. They shored up their defensive front and didn't have to trade up to do it.

Grade: A-

The Steelers traded pick number 80 to the Carolina Panthers for picks 93 and 132 in the 2023 draft. With that selection, they took tight end Darnell Washington. The Georgia product had suffered a surprising fall almost all the way to day three.

In the end, the Steelers get a fine tight end and a good weapon for Pickett. After trading down and getting more capital to then select a top tight end, this is a good move.

Grade: A

The team opted not to trade back up into the third round and stuck with their day three picks heading into tomorrow.