It’s never too early to jump into mock draft season. Currently, everyone and their mother has the Steelers penciled in to draft a quarterback in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft. With Aaron Rodgers all but confirming that this is likely his final season, the team seems poised to be in the QB market early.
Yahoo Sports’ Nate Tice and Charles McDonald don’t see it that way. Instead, they have the Steelers addressing, perhaps their next biggest position of concern, wide receiver with USC’s Makai Lemon.
“Lemon is a big-play machine with good ball skills and can consistently make the first tackler miss with the ball in his hands. He might be best served as primarily a slot player at the next level, but he has been productive on the outside and against press this season. He would have great synergy of skill sets with DK Metcalf.”
Lemon has been a man on a mission this season. Riding an impressive early start to the season by the Trojans, Lemon has stood out the most in the receiver room. Through five games, he’s totaled 35 receptions, 589 yards and five touchdowns, all of which lead the team.
Despite him being the fourth receiver off the board in their mock draft, a real case can be made that he has been the second-best player out of the group and is continuing to ascend. According to PFF, two of Lemon’s highest graded games have come this year, with his best ever happening against highly-rated Illinois. It’s a good sign of Lemon rising to the occasion against stiff competition.
While Tice and McDonald say that Lemon is primarily a slot, he’s shown more than enough ability to play on the outside. He’s a silky smooth route-runner and, despite his size, has flashed contested catch skills.
It would be a bit head-scratching to draft a receiver and not have a quarterback in place to get him the ball. Granted, in the exercise, the team is drafting at the 27 slot with no real options in place. Perhaps the prevailing thought among the team here is to wait one more year, allowing a quarterback to develop within an offense that already features several playmakers.
Only time will tell what the Steelers do, but I’d be shocked if they didn’t shoot fireworks with the draft in Pittsburgh.
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