Marcus Peters visits the Steelers

The Steelers desperately need to upgrade their defensive backfield and one of the best cornerbacks in the draft is visiting the team today. Former Washington Husky Marcus Peters is projected as a late first-round pick, but some draft analysts think he is the most-talented corner in the draft.

Peters has fallen down some draft boards because he was kicked off Washington’s team last fall by coach Chris Petersen. I talked with CBS sports draft analyst Rob Rang last night about Peters and asked him to compare Peters and Wake Forest’s Kevin Johnson, another potential corner target for the Steelers at No. 22.

“Peters is more talented and he is the more physical player,” Rang said. “He fits in more with the AFC North better than Johnson does. If they felt confident with the off-the-field stuff he’s probably the guy they should take.”

The Steelers at the very least appear to be doing their due diligence today with Peters. Rang, who lives in Seattle, has interviewed Peters about his problems at Washington.

“He’s done everything to answers questions teams might have,” Rang said. “But there are some teams that have told me he’s off their board. Trey trust [former Huskies coach] Steve Sarkisian and Chris Petersen. Both staffs had issues with Peters.

“But there are 16 teams that did workouts with Peters. So teams are intrigued by him. I would not consider drafting him unless I had a coach who could handle him and a strong locker room.”

The Steelers appear to have more than a cursory interest. They sent Carnell Lake to Washington for Peters’ pro day and lake was among the NFL coaches who ran the workout. 

Rang has Peters rated as his third corner behind Trae Waynes of Michigan State and Johnson of Wake Forest. He is the No. 30 player overall in his rankings.

Also visiting the Steelers today are cornerback Alex Carter of Stanford and linebacker Max Valles of Virginia.

Carter is projected as a third-round pick by Rang and Valles is projected as an undrafted free agent. Valles entered the draft after his redshirt sophomore season.