Former coach believes Steelers got steal in OL Chukwuma Okorafor

Mike Munchak didn't expect to be talking about Chukwuma Okorafor last Friday night, surmising the Steelers wouldn't be using their second third-round pick of the draft on an offensive lineman.

The football staff at Western Michigan was surprised, too. Not that the Steelers were the team that drafted the 6-foot-6, 320-pound tackle. Rather, that the Steelers — or anyone else — didn't snatch him sooner. One day sooner.

"We thought he'd be a first-day guy," WMU assistant coach Bill Kenney said. "We thought if he fell to the second day, it would be early on."

Okorafor didn't go in the first round. Or the second. And because Okorafor lasted until the No. 92 overall pick, Kenney believes the Steelers got a steal by selecting this raw talent who didn't play football until his junior year of high school and doesn't turn 21 until August.

Okorafor goes by the nickname "Chuks," which rhymes with nukes (an apt description of the way he blows up defensive linemen).

"He comes with a rare combination of strength, size and athleticism," said Kenney, who works with WMU's tackles after spending two-plus decades coaching the offensive line at Penn State. "He's an unusual guy in the fact that it's hard to find big men that can move like that and have that nimbleness that can take a 325-pound body and move it like a feather."

Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert said Okorafor was too good to pass up when the third round neared its conclusion.

"He probably has the most upside of the (draft) group," Colbert said.

Western Michigan has become a breeding ground for NFL offensive line talent under Kenney. The Broncos are the only non-Power 5 school to have an offensive lineman drafted the past three seasons. At Penn State, Kenney developed 25 draft picks and five undrafted free agents who played in the NFL. He includes Okorafor among his top pupils, comparing his size to Levi Brown and Kareem McKenzie, and he said Okorafor excels in pass protection.

"He's in that class in terms of his frame and his length," Kenney said. "It really is a tremendous advantage for a tackle. You need that to compete at that level."

Okorafor was born in Nigeria and lived in Botswana until his family arrived in Michigan in 2010. He attended Southfield High School near Detroit and wanted to go to college close to home, which is why he committed to Western Michigan in the spring prior to his senior season. Kalamazoo is a two-hour drive from Southfield.

Okorafor flourished in his final scholastic year, and Kenney said Arkansas, Tennessee and Florida and some Big Ten schools made offers. Okorafor decided to stay in the Mid-American Conference.

"It speaks to his character that he made a commitment and followed through on it," Kenney said.

The Steelers first took stock of Okorafor at the 2017 Western Michigan pro day, which they attended with the idea of scouting wide receiver Corey Davis and tackle Taylor Moton. They drafted WMU linebacker Keion Adams in the seventh round from that class.

"Chuks kind of stood out on film," Colbert said. "We followed up and continued to scout him throughout the season."

As a senior, Okorafor started at left tackle for the second consecutive season after spending his sophomore year on the right side. He started the final 39 games of his college career, was a semifinalist for the Outland Trophy and received an invitation for the Senior Bowl.

Munchak never talked to Okorafor until last Friday. But he got an advance scouting report from Kenney, who, in turn, gave one to Okorafor on his new position coach.

"He was in the office the other day wearing his Steelers gear," Kenney said. "I said, 'Hey, buddy, you're playing for the best line coach that is out there. You are blessed because you've got one of the greats of the greats.' "

Munchak said he can't wait to work with Okorafor at rookie minicamp next weekend and the organized team activities (OTAs) that follow.

"You get a guy who doesn't have a whole lot of bad habits, doesn't ask to do a lot of things," Munchak said. "He got away with things because of his size, his arms, his strength, those type of things which you know he's not even close to being developed the way he can be.

"He's capable of doing everything we want him to do and we ask our tackles to do."

Joe Rutter is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at jrutter@tribweb.com or via Twitter @tribjoerutter.