{"id":706915,"date":"2026-01-26T18:11:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T18:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/706915\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T18:11:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T18:11:13","slug":"daniel-jeremiah-pairs-steelers-with-big-offensive-upgrade-in-first-mock-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/706915\/","title":{"rendered":"Daniel Jeremiah Pairs Steelers With Big Offensive Upgrade In First Mock Draft\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pittsburgh Steelers make an immediate offensive upgrade in Daniel Jeremiah\u2019s first mock draft of the cycle. Published Monday morning, Jeremiah, NFL Network\u2019s lead draft analyst, is pairing a top wide receiver with whoever\u00a0is going to play quarterback this year. With the 21st pick, he has Pittsburgh selecting Washington WR Denzel Boston.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Steelers must find someone to complement DK Metcalf<\/a>. Boston is another big, physical receiver to play opposite the two-time Pro Bowler,\u201d Jeremiah writes.<\/p>\n

In Arthur Smith\u2019s system, drafting a receiver early might not have been palatable. But under a Mike McCarthy offense that will lean more on the position with a spread-out passing attack, having a top-flight No. 2 receiver is key. Pittsburgh\u2019s offense has been held back by having just one quality receiver without a secondary threat for defenses to contend with.<\/p>\n

Though this year\u2019s class is deep, Boston stands above others. Literally. At a listed 6-4 and 210 pounds, he\u2019s one of the biggest receivers in the 2026 NFL Draft. On tape, he shows the ability to attack the football and make downfield plays. His biggest question mark could be overall athleticism and consistent separation. How he tests in the pre-draft process will be key.<\/p>\n

Spending four years at Washington, he made his last two count. In 2024 and 2025, he caught at least 60 passes for 800 yards and nine touchdowns. For his final year, he hauled in 62 receptions, 881 yards, and 11 touchdowns. His 20 career touchdowns rank eighth in school history.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, Jeremiah\u2019s mock draft is revealing. He has just one quarterback taken in the first round. As expected, he paired Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza to the Las Vegas Raiders with the top pick. Alabama\u2019s Ty Simpson doesn\u2019t crack the top 32.<\/p>\n

Boston is just one of four receivers taken in the first round. He was the final name behind USC\u2019s Makai Lemon<\/a>, Ohio State\u2019s Carnell Tate, and Arizona State\u2019s Jordyn Tyson. All four are clustered together between picks 13 through 21.<\/p>\n

Look for a full scouting report on Boston in the coming days. And if you missed it, check out our complete Steelers mock draft from earlier in the day.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pittsburgh Steelers make an immediate offensive upgrade in Daniel Jeremiah\u2019s first mock draft of the cycle. Published…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":706916,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[4955,2856,32198,7,57],"class_list":{"0":"post-706915","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-2026-nfl-draft","9":"tag-daniel-jeremiah","10":"tag-denzel-boston","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115962752880024990","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=706915"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706915\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/706916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=706915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=706915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=706915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}