BATON ROUGE, La. -- Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has been using pro days to learn a lot more about top draft prospects than just their 40-yard dash times.
He dined with Louisville pass rusher Lorenzo Mauldin before the Cardinals' pro day a couple weeks ago, and on Thursday night he did the same with two of LSU's top prospects: cornerback Jalen Collins, a first-round hopeful, and pass rusher Danielle Hunter. Collins confirmed the meeting Friday at LSU's pro day and spoke with Tomlin extensively again as his former teammates went through bench-press testing.
"Just hanging out and catching up," Collins said.
Collins did not participate in drills due to foot surgery. But after running a 4.48 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine, Pittsburgh is far from the only interested party. Collins said he has yet to take any visits, but is scheduled for trips to Baltimore and Jacksonville next week to meet with the Ravens and Jaguars.
Collins would make sense as a target for the Steelers, who need reinforcements in the defensive backfield.
"Age has been catching up with the Steelers' secondary for some time and there's really no way of getting around the holes that have developed at cornerback and safety," wrote NFL Media's Lance Zierlein of Pittsburgh's draft needs.
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