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Mike Tomlin: Process of Omar Khan’s first draft “very similar” to the past

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The Steelers traded up with the Patriots for Broderick Jones at No. 14, one pick ahead of potential the Jones suitor New York Jets.

Omar Khan is nearing his first anniversary as the Steelers General Manager and he checked another new experience off the list by running his first draft.

Khan kicked it off by trading up to take tackle Broderick Jones in the first round. It’s only the fourth time that the Steelers have moved up in the first round and head coach Mike Tomlin called his colleague “aggressive” while discussing what it was like to see someone other than Kevin Colbert run the draft for the first time in the 21st century.

“We’ve just got work to do,” Tomlin said, via Brooke Pryor of ESPN.com. “It’s normal for us. We’ve worked together for a long time. I don’t know that we hide behind roles and titles. People have opinions. We’ve got work to do. We’ve got information to gain. The process was very similar to how it’s been in the past. I don’t know that I’ve looked at him in a different light because of the position. I don’t know that he looks at himself in a different light. I just think sometimes titles and things of that nature are overblown. We’ve worked together for a long time, and we had some fun this weekend.”

After drafting Jones, the Steelers added cornerback Joey Porter Jr., defensive tackle Keeanu Benton, Georgia tight end Darnell Washington, Wisconsin linebacker Nick Herbig, Purdue cornerback Cory Trice, and Maryland tackle Spencer Anderson.