{"id":870023,"date":"2026-04-19T16:03:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T16:03:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/870023\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T16:03:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T16:03:23","slug":"three-expectations-to-keep-for-steelers-during-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/870023\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Expectations to Keep for Steelers During NFL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6i\">PITTSBURGH &#8212; With less than a week until the 2026 NFL Draft begins, it&#8217;s beginning to feel all too ral for the Pittsburgh Steelers. After a whirlwind of an offseason, this draft marks the end of the offseason, and the moment the real work begins for this organization. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6l\">Many folks expect the Pittsburgh Steelers to trade up in an effort to make this year&#8217;s draft a resounding success. It&#8217;s a totally fair expectation, given the talent that might slide out of the top 10 picks. Players like Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate is a frequent trade-up target for the Steelers, while his teammate at OSU, safety Caleb Downs, is the top talent in the entire draft. If either is still available when the 11th overall selection begins, the Steelers have to at least think about making an offer and grabbing their guy.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6o\">But what are the realistic expectations for the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/steelers\/onsi\/three-nfl-draft-quarterbacks-better-pittsburgh-steelers-will-howard\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Steelers <\/a>in this draft? With less than one week until it kicks off, here are the three things I expect to see from the Steelers at this year&#8217;s NFL Draft. <\/p>\n<p>Steeler Stand Pat at 21st Overall<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6u\">I know, the fanbase wants to see a trade up, but that doesn&#8217;t align with how the Steelers have played this offseason. General manager Omar Khan&#8217;s roster personnel decisions and way of navigating the pre-draft process point to that. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6x\">Let&#8217;s start with their roster moves so far. Patience was the key in all of it. Instead of panicking and overspending on a wide receiver addition, they waited the market out and landed Michael Pittman Jr. for essentially nothing. They waited out the market and landed safety Jaquan Brisker on a one-year deal, upgrading their secondary for minimal costs. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"70\">The same thing can be said about their pre-draft process. While they brought in first-round talents like wide receiver Denzel Boston, Makai Lemon and safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, undisputed top names like Tate, Downs or even Jordyn Tyson out of Arizona State, never took the trip to UPMC Rooney Sports Complex.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"73\">That tells me the Steelers have no desire to move up in Round 1. Instead, they will be patient and wait their for the 21st pick to make their choice. And they will take the best player available at a position of need. <\/p>\n<p>Expect a Trade in Round 2<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"79\">When Day 2 of the draft begins, the strategy in the first round goes out the window. The Steelers will still have a few holes to fill, regardless of whom they select in the first round, and they have 11 remaining picks over Day 2 and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/steelers\/onsi\/news\/three-late-round-steals-pittsburgh-steelers-2026-nfl-draft\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Day 3<\/a> at their disposal. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7c\">This is when a move happens. The Steelers are going to move into the first 10 picks of the second round, parting with their own second-rounder plus some later picks in return, and get another integral piece. If they go wide receiver in Round 1, expect a top offensive lineman or cornerback to be the next choice. <\/p>\n<p>Single Digit Selections<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7i\">Despite owning 12 selections, don&#8217;t expect the Steelers to use them all. Whether it&#8217;s in that trade up in Round 2 or later on, this team will not walk into minicamp or training camp with 12 recent draft picks vying for spots. It simply won&#8217;t happen.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7l\">My guess? The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/steelers\/onsi\/news\/pittsburgh-steelers-will-howard-shout-out-top-nfl-draft-wide-receiver\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Steelers <\/a>wind up using nine picks when everything is said and done. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-14\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7o\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/steelers\/onsi\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Make sure to bookmark Steelers On SI<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@AllSteelersTalk\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">,<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@AllSteelersTalk\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">and find our podcast All Steelers Talk on YouTube<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/linktr.ee\/allsteelerstalk\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">or anywhere you listen!<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\">Follow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PITTSBURGH &#8212; With less than a week until the 2026 NFL Draft begins, it&#8217;s beginning to feel all&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":870024,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[7,6,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-870023","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl-draft","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-nfl","10":"tag-nfl-draft"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116432222272186418","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870023","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=870023"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870023\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/870024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=870023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=870023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=870023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}