{"id":57859,"date":"2025-06-23T02:44:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-23T02:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=57859"},"modified":"2025-06-23T02:44:00","modified_gmt":"2025-06-23T02:44:00","slug":"breaking-steelers-omar-khan-puts-late-round-cb-on-notice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=57859","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Steelers\u2019 Omar Khan Puts Late-Round CB on Notice.."},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2201925439.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2201925439.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2201925439.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2201925439.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Omar Khan Donte Kent\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" data-img-load-time=\"106\" data-dom-ready-time=\"171\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan hyped the team&#8217;s seventh-round pick, cornerback Donte Kent, during a documentary series on Friday.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Seventh-round picks don\u2019t typically come into the NFL with a lot of hype. But\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0general manager Omar Khan placed some expectations on the team\u2019s final selection in the 2025 NFL Draft \u2014 cornerback\u00a0Donte Kent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe expect him to contribute sooner rather than later,\u201d\u00a0Khan said\u00a0in Friday\u2019s episode of the team\u2019s doc-series,\u00a0<em>The Standard<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The Steelers general manager said that sentence at the end of a conversation where he was rather complimentary about the seventh-round cornerback.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSpent significant time studying his film. Looking at his production, both not only on the defensive side but on special teams, the more we watched, the more excited we got about him. Solid character.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnother guy that\u2019s got a really good opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Steelers drafted Kent at No. 229 overall in the seventh round of the 2025 Draft. A Harrisburg, PA native, Kent played five seasons at Central Michigan in college.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Steelers Added CB Donte Kent in Seventh Round<\/h2>\n<p>With other position groups such as defensive line and running back taking precedence, the Steelers didn\u2019t draft a cornerback until the final round. Pittsburgh had two seventh-round picks, and Khan used the first one on tight end\u00a0Carson Bruener.<\/p>\n<p>The Steelers finally added cornerback depth at No. 229. They clearly like who they found.<\/p>\n<p>NFL.com\u2019s Lance Zierlein was rather positive about Kent for his speed and versatility during the draft process.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSpeedy four-year starter and team captain with the athletic ability to garner Day 3 interest in the draft. Kent\u2019s measurables are better suited for the slot, but he can play outside if needed,\u201d\u00a0Zierlein wrote. \u201cHis speed and burst lead to pass breakups, but he lacks the route anticipation and instincts to turn more of those into interceptions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s not scheme-dependent but is better in man coverage than he is in zone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s unlikely Kent will earn a regular defensive role as a rookie. So, for him to make the Steelers roster, Kent will have to play special teams.<\/p>\n<p>The cornerback has experience on that unit too, as he lined up as a gunner at Central Michigan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s tough enough in run support and has potential as a gunner or punt returner, which should increase his draft value,\u201d\u00a0wrote Zierlein prior to the draft.<\/p>\n<p>In 53 games at Central Michigan,\u00a0Kent posted\u00a0234 combined tackles, including six for loss. He also had 46 pass defenses, two forced fumbles, two interceptions and 1.5 sacks.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Steelers CB Depth Entering 2025 NFL Training Camp<\/h2>\n<p>Cornerback has become a hot topic around the Steelers lately.<\/p>\n<p>Pundits connected the team to former All-Pro free agents\u00a0Jaire Alexander\u00a0and\u00a0Jalen Ramsey\u00a0this offseason. On Thursday, Bleacher Report\u2019s Kristopher Knox proposed\u00a0the Steelers as a landing spot\u00a0for former Pittsburgh undrafted cornerback\u00a0Mike Hilton.<\/p>\n<p>However, with different reports on Alexander, who signed with the\u00a0Baltimore Ravens, and Ramsey, who is expected to head to the West Coast,\u00a0signs point to the Steelers\u00a0not being interested in another cornerback addition.<\/p>\n<p>The excitement the team has around Kent could be part of why. The Steelers also added veteran\u00a0Darius Slay\u00a0in free agency.<\/p>\n<p>Slay is projected to start opposite\u00a0Joey Porter Jr., who\u00a0Slay has touted as someone he hopes to help this season. In the slot, the Steelers could play 2024 undrafted free agent\u00a0Beanie Bishop Jr. a lot.<\/p>\n<p>Bishop played significant snaps during the first half of last season. But at the midseason point, veteran\u00a0Cameron Sutton\u00a0returned from a suspension and took snaps away from Bishop.<\/p>\n<p>Sutton, though, is not back with the team this fall.<\/p>\n<p>Besides Kent, the Steelers have seven other cornerbacks on their 90-man roster as well \u2014\u00a0Brandin Echols,\u00a0James Pierre,\u00a0D\u2019Shawn Jamison,\u00a0Quindell Johnson,\u00a0Cameron McCutcheon,\u00a0Kyler McMichael\u00a0and\u00a0Cory Trice Jr.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan hyped the team&#8217;s seventh-round pick, cornerback Donte Kent, during a documentary series on Friday. Seventh-round picks don\u2019t typically come into&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57860,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING: Steelers\u2019 Omar Khan Puts Late-Round CB on Notice.. - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=57859\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Steelers\u2019 Omar Khan Puts Late-Round CB on Notice.. - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan hyped the team&#8217;s seventh-round pick, cornerback Donte Kent, during a documentary series on Friday. 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