More than most teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers tend to be the sort of team that leans on pedigree, sticking largely to Power 5 schools for their draft selections, particularly in the earlier rounds. They only take a small-school player every so often. The idea of them being the first player to draft a non-Combine invitee seems an absurd notion.
Of course, in this unconventional offseason, the Steelers did both, for the second time in five years using a third-round draft pick on a small-school front-seven defender in Alex Highsmith. Then in the fourth round, they drafted Kevin Dotson out of Louisiana-Lafayette, an offensive lineman who wasn’t invited to the Combine.