The Pittsburgh Steelers are preparing for the 2026 NFL Draft, and while NFL free agency is underway, it doesn’t mean they still aren’t doing their diligence on specific draft prospects. While a large contingent of the scouting department is on the road at Pro Days, the Steelers have started hosting prospects for the pre-draft visits.
The latest Top 30 visits were USC WR Makai Lemon, Toledo S Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, and Michigan TE Marlin Klein.
This per Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Big day for the Steelers with their top 30 visitors: UCS WR Makai Lemon, Toledo S Emmanuel McNeil-Warren and Michigan TE Marlin Klein.
— Ray Fittipaldo (@rayfitt1) April 9, 2026
When it comes to Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, his visit was covered in a previous article. You can read it HERE.
To get a better idea to what these prospects bring, here are breakdowns of their scouting reports:
Overview
High-skill, high-volume slot receiver with average size but extraordinary ball skills. Lemon has room for refinement, but not much. He’s intelligent, confident and polished with the ability to make plays on all three levels. Tempo-driven route-runner who misdirects man coverage and separates out of turns but is fairly average after the catch. Quicker than fast, featuring early acceleration to open seam throws but flashes late burst when needed. More play strength is needed for NFL press and he needs to avoid rushing through multi-breaking routes. He’s an exceptional ball-tracker with excellent catch timing and few focus drops. He wins more combat catches than he loses. Lemon is a plug-and-play, quarterback-friendly talent with first-round value and Pro Bowl upside.
Strengths
Efficient press release with early acceleration to bypass.
Manipulates defenders out of position with route acumen.
Snaps off out-breaking routes at crisp angles.
Displays above-average burst from turns to gain separation.
Ball-tracking adjustments and catch timing are elite.
Ridiculous grip strength once the football hits his hands.
Elevates his toughness and focus when catch is contested.
Good patience with late catch adjustment to save his catch space.
Already dropping two feet inbounds near the sideline.
Willing run blocker who gives legitimate effort.
Weaknesses
Could use a hair more patience to prevent rushing the route.
Appears quicker than fast when working vertical routes.
Can be a little slow disengaging once captured underneath.
Competitive but relatively ordinary after the catch.
Needs runway to break off comebacks out of the drive phase.
Overview
German-born prospect with average athleticism in space but above-average grit at the point. Klein’s tape shouldn’t be viewed as a finished product considering his relative lack of game experience in the sport. He needs to block with inside hands but displays a sturdy core and strong hands to do his job in-line. He builds speed with long strides and will catch what is provided. More muscle mass is needed, but Klein has a chance to become a Day 3 pick as a backup “Y” tight end.
Strengths
Voted team captain for 2025.
Creates leverage points to strike from.
Accelerates through contact and runs his feet.
Strong hands allow for longer sustains once he’s in.
Efficient eluding traffic and keeping routes on time.
Adjusted catch-timing to the barrage of fastballs he saw.
Weaknesses
Relatively new to the game, making just 12 college starts.
Light production includes one career touchdown.
Long-legged and gradual through route turns.
Must become more forceful at clearing out catch space.
Hands fly out wide into contact on too many run blocks.
Forward lean diminishes mirror effectiveness in pass pro.
NFL teams are permitted to host a maximum of 30 draft-eligible players for “top-30” official in-person visits, which are used for interviews, medical re-checks, and film study, but not for on-field testing. These, along with 3 weekly virtual meetings (max 1 hour each), constitute the primary, regulated, pre-draft engagement.
There are also the “local” visits which can occur without counting towards the aforementioned 30 pre-draft visits, and that area is a radius surrounding the team’s home city, which differs per team. For the Steelers, meetings with Pitt, West Virginia and even Penn State typically fall into the “local” visit category. As we also learned, players who grew up in the Pittsburgh area are also considered local visits.
Stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes on the Steelers, and keep tabs on all pre-draft visits with our Pre-Draft Visit Tracker HERE.