Anyone see who Gerry Dulac predicted the Steelers would select in his most recent column? Who did he choose? Ed Bouchette used to pretty frequently nail his Round One prediction.
Personally, like most folks, I'd like to get Vega, but you never know how the draft will go! GO STEELERS!
The day is upon us, finally. I’m hoping we take Iaone at 21 to replace Seumalo. I’m just hoping the Rat birds don’t take him at 14. I’m totally at ease with Dylan playing LT. I’d love to hear who you want.
I'm not sure what it is but this guy just has a special aura. Feels like his passion and love for the game comes through the screen. And he seems to be building our defensive schemes based on our current personnel instead of forcing them to fit a prebuilt system. I'm so excited to see what he does with this absolutely stacked group on D.
The 2026 NFL Draft is here! And it’s in Pittsburgh! I’m not in the city right now, for those who are, what are the vibes like?
What’s everyone’s plan for the draft weekend!
Are you avoiding certain roads, restaurants, etc? Which outside fanbase do you see the most?
I know we have a ton of mid round picks, but regardless of how the board looks after 20 picks there’s gonna be someone decent left over. I’m hoping for Vega, but if he doesn’t make it we could certainly use some tackle help. If OLine is picked over then there’s probably gonna be a receiver or cb worth taking. Third and fourth round picks are gonna be super valuable in this draft, and we’re a team that needs an infusion of youth and some new prospects on both sides of the ball.
The only way I can see it making sense is if a top ten prospect starts falling and gets within reach.
I disagree with a lot of the rankings. But I like the format.
The obvious for me is Big Ben is Tier 1. His the statistical leader in damn near every category for QB’s in our franchise.
I’m okay with moving TJ Watt to Tier 2 for the personal accolades and dropping Cam Hayward to Tier 3. AB is Tier 2 IDGAF what people saw about his he is a top 5-10 WR of all time.
Anyone missing you would add or anyone you would subtract from their tier?!
No more soft shit. I want violence, toughness, and grown men who make this team feel like the Steelers again.
Draft accordingly.
the sicko board
forget pff. forget ras. three categories only: tough, violent, steelers dna. if he doesn’t finish through the whistle send him to cincy so he can be one of Burrow’s Lesbian housewives.
vega ioane: 10/10/10. perfect score.
max iheanachor: 8/9/9. mean tackle.
blake miller: 8/8/9. quiet nasty.
omar cooper jr: 8/7/8. wr who blocks. insane.
makai lemon: 7/5/8 talented but a little too pretty. has potential to be mean
rutledge: 9/9/9. second nastiest guard
jacob rodriguez: 9/8/9. tomlin pick.
stukes: 8/7/8. db who actually tackles.
germie bernard: 7/6/7. fine. I just like the name
darrell jackson jr: 9/10/10. steel mill ass player.
domonique orange: 9/10/9. actual nose tackle.
gennings dunker: 9/9/9. moves people.
kyle louis: 8/7/8. runs angry.
ted hurst: 7/5/6. not really my kind of guy but if you change the letter around it spells hurts.
markel bell: 8/8/8. big chunker
marlin klein: 8/8/9. te who blocks. God is good.
kamari ramsey: 8/8/8. willing to spearhead
emmett johnson: 8/6/7. no nonsense runner.
cult hero tier:
max bredeson: 10/9/10. fullback. enough said.
vj payne: 8/9/9. Payne is what I want
cole brevard: 9/10/9. random day 3 psycho.
nolan rucci: 8/8/8. yes
josiah trotter: 9/8/9. tough mfer
top 5 steelers dna:
Who’d I miss? Let’s find more sickos
Edits/Guys I missed:
Red Murdock 10/10/10 - scouted & scored by r/schmatty23. great name. quick highlight tape notes. goes for ball + spearheading + not afraid to hit teammates ✅ definitely plus side violence
Fano and Ioane seem like the 2 obvious targets if they go this route. I'd personally prefer Fano, because you can start him at LG and move him to LT if you move on from Jones in the future.
Has the Steelers taking Blake Miller at 21.
>Earlier this week, Steelers GM Omar Khan mentioned Broderick Jones is limited as he recovers from a neck injury that sidelined him for the final six games of last season. With that in mind, the tackle position looks like a viable need. Troy Fautanu could easily move over to left tackle, allowing Miller to slide in at RT.
Worth noting, he has Olaivavega Ioane going to the Chargers at 22...
Thoughts on Max Iheanachor?
I find him an intriguing prospect. Young, freakish size, super athletic, and a true value pick at 21 to consider. He had a dominant performance against David Bailey when he played Texas Tech. I could see him developing into the best OT from this class. Big "if" of course.
Draft is tomorrow, and all this talk about Mocks, Moves and Trades had me wondering.
Who was “the Guy” that the sub wanted last year? I wasn’t apart of the sub at the time and didn’t get to experience the draft portion and all the wild posts leading up to it.
Who did everyone want last year and who does everyone want now?
Its a long list, but for some time now, I've been tweaking/modifying my Steelers top 53. Its an organized list of players I want for the Steelers, ranked from 1-53. Basically, if I was the FO for the Steelers, I would take #1 if he is still there at 21, then I'd take #2 if #1 is gone, then #3 if #2 and #1 were gone, and so on and so on.
As far as I am aware, this is how real FOs operate. They make a list similar to this (based on their grades), and generally come to a decision on who to rank in front of who else, and pick the highest player on their board.
Here is my top 21 of that 53 FOR THE STEELERS:
It'd not a terrible list imo. Most years, once you get about ~80% thru your top players, you start thinking about trading back, but for this year, I am totally fine with sticking and picking Thieneman, Concepcion, or Omar Cooper. I'd probably think about trading back if literally all 20 of my favorite players are off the board at 21, but I would love if we HAD to trade back, yet still got a guy like McNeil-Warren.
Some EDGE rushers are included here, and yes, while that doesn't make a whole lot of sense for the Steelers, their talent is crazy high, and you'd have to go BPA if they were there at 21. You would figure out how to make them work.
It's nice to know that one of these 21 guys will probably be a Steeler within 32 hours, unless they reach on some prospect.
And yes, I do have Ty Simpson at 34. I would consider taking him in a trade up, but it'd have to be in the 2nd round probably.
I have a separate list where I ranked all the top prospects by position, and then put the lowest pick I'd take them in front. For example, I have Vega Ioane at 13+, meaning, I would trade up to get him at 13 and be happy. Ty Simpson is at 35+. Some numbers are particular, and usually those picks are Steeler picks, meaning I'd be happy if we stick and pick those guys. For example, Ted Hurst at 53.
Here is my list of WRs:
Let me know if you disagree / agree with any of my takes, or if you want to see the rest of the top 53 or my other positional lists.
Don’t get me wrong, I love AR, always have, even when he wore the Green. Top 5 QB all time for me personally.
But…. that was then. He showed flashes of his old self last year, but it doesn’t seem sustainable, even if we get him some shiny weapons this Friday. Do we roll the dice and say Howard you are in?
Will looked good in Training Camp last year, but it’s just that…training. Is it time to give him the keys and see if he can drive the car? Maybe draft a late round QB and see if they can bring the best out of each other?
Or do we shift all together and try to get a new guy all together like Ty?
This year is already a refresh with Mike at HC, is it worth it to fully refresh the QB position as well?
Hello!
Does anyone know if the pedestrian walkway from Ft Pitt down to the point is closed for the draft?
I keep seeing conflicting things, don’t want to get there tomorrow and half to back track with a bigger party of people.
Just going to take the T as a backup plan.
Hi everyone, Mike DeFabo here, Steelers beat writer at The Athletic.
A proud native of Latrobe, Pa., I grew up going to training camp and was inspired to pursue sports journalism. After stops early in my career covering Purdue and Michigan State, I returned to Western Pennsylvania in 2019 as a Penguins beat writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. I’ve been in my current role at The Athletic since 2022.
Join me on Wednesday, 22nd April at 3pm ET for an AMA on the Steelers and the NFL Draft.
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We are also bringing The Beast to Pittsburgh to answer your draft questions live and in person. Join me, Jerome Bettis and more at The Terminal at 1pm ET on Wednesday 22nd April to get more of your draft questions answered by The Athletic's expert reporters. The first 100 attendees will also receive a physical copy of The Beast — all 600+ pages of it!
