{"id":813126,"date":"2026-03-15T04:52:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T04:52:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/813126\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T04:52:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T04:52:21","slug":"steelers-patch-up-glaring-hole-in-latest-2026-nfl-draft-mock-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/813126\/","title":{"rendered":"Steelers Patch Up Glaring Hole in Latest 2026 NFL Draft Mock-Up"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"categories\"><a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/nfl-draft\/2026-nfl-draft\/\" rel=\"tag nofollow noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\">2026 NFL Draft<\/a>\u2022<a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/steelers-news\/\" rel=\"tag nofollow noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\">Steelers News<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"788\" height=\"444\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/DSC01889-scaled-1.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium tpd-force-16x9-aspect-ratio wp-post-image\" alt=\"Pittsburgh Steelers 2026 NFL Draft Vega Ioane Penn State\" decoding=\"sync\" loading=\"eager\"   fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>Penn State offensive lineman Vega Ioane during a game against FIU on Sept. 6, 2025. &#8212; Matthew Lynch \/ Nittany Sports Now<\/p>\n<p>The Pittsburgh Steelers currently have a hole at guard after veteran Isaac Seumalo left in free agency. Mike McCarthy\u2019s team made sure to fill it right up in Pro Football &amp; Sports Network\u2019s latest three-round 2026 NFL Draft mock-up.<\/p>\n<p>The Steelers plucked Penn State guard Olaivavega Ioane with the No. 21 overall pick.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDepth along the interior offensive line could push the Pittsburgh Steelers toward addressing the guard position early in the draft,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.profootballnetwork.com\/3-round-nfl-mock-draft-march-2026-elijah\/\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer nofollow\">PFSN wrote<\/a> Saturday. \u201cOlaivavega Ioane might be too good to pass up if he\u2019s still available at No. 21. Adding Ioane would give Pittsburgh a powerful presence inside while reinforcing an offensive line that needs more stability heading into the 2026 season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe former Penn State guard is widely considered the top interior lineman in the class and a strong candidate to be the first pure guard selected. Ioane\u2019s game is built on strength, leverage, and consistency rather than flashy athletic traits. While he may not possess elite foot speed, his heavy hands and strong base allow him to control defenders at the point of attack.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ioane, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 320 pounds, played in 44 games for the Nittany Lions over four seasons.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPrototypical guard for physical run schemes with thick limbs, a broad frame and plus core strength,\u201d NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein wrote in a scouting report. \u201cIoane plays with excellent contact balance and technique on both base blocks and double teams. He uses his hips and hands for leverage and displacement when drive blocking.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Steelers also added Missouri linebacker Josiah Trotter in the second round (No. 53), then Alabama quarterback <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/tag\/ty-simpson\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ty Simpson<\/a> (No. 76), Georgia receiver Zachariah Branch (No. 85) and Auburn center Connor Lew (No. 99) in the third.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMentioned In This Article: <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/tag\/2026-nfl-draft\/\" rel=\"tag nofollow noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\">2026 NFL Draft<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/tag\/olaivavega-ioane\/\" rel=\"tag nofollow noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\">Olaivavega Ioane<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/tag\/pittsburgh-steelers\/\" rel=\"tag nofollow noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\">Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/tag\/steelers\/\" rel=\"tag nofollow noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\">Steelers<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"2026 NFL Draft\u2022Steelers News Penn State offensive lineman Vega Ioane during a game against FIU on Sept. 6,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":813127,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[4955,7,6,15,53910,57,426],"class_list":{"0":"post-813126","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl-draft","8":"tag-2026-nfl-draft","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-nfl-draft","12":"tag-olaivavega-ioane","13":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","14":"tag-steelers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116231402072824749","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813126","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=813126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813126\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/813127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=813126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=813126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=813126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}