How Cory Trice Factors Into Steelers Draft Plans

Cory Trice Jr. holds enticing upside heading into the third season of his NFL career, but the Pittsburgh Steelers can't allow him to get in the way of their draft plans.

Coming off a 2022 campaign at Purdue in which he racked up 34 tackles, 10 passes defended and two interceptions over 13 games, Trice slid all the way down to the seventh round in the 2023 draft in part due to an extension history of injuries, including a torn ACL in 2021.

The Steelers seized the opportunity and selected him with the No. 241 overall pick, hoping that he'd remain healthy and develop into a starter down the line due to his size, length and athleticism as a press corner.

Trice never was in position to make an impact as a rookie, however, considering he tore his ACL at the beginning of training camp and subsequently missed the entire year.

The 24-year-old recovered in time to participate in both minicamp and OTAs last offseason before remaining in good health throughout training camp and the preseason, appearing in all three contests and logging 80 snaps.

Trice cracked the 53-man roster and took a combined 45 reps across the first two weeks of the regular season per Pro Football Focus, picking up two tackles and an interception along the way, but a hamstring ailment he sustained in Week 3 landed him on the reserve/injured list.

He would not see the field again until Week 17, though he earned 206 total reps from that point through the Steelers' Wild Card round loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

Trice appears to have the support of Pittsburgh's coaching staff, and there's reason to believe he can continue developing into a quality piece for the team's secondary.

At the same time though, the organization cannot count on him to make a huge leap. That's not to say it definitively won't happen in 2025, but pencilling Trice in for a sizable snap count given his durability and his unknown trajectory wouldn't necessarily be wise.

The Steelers will have Darius Slay start next to Joey Porter Jr. on the outside next season after signing him to a one-year deal last month, and it wouldn't come as a surprise if they were to choose a corner early in the draft either.

Trice will still have his moments and find his way into games, but it's not quite time for the team to put all of their eggs in his basket.

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