The Official 2026 NFL Draft Thread (No Spoilers)

None of them as good as Thieneman.

 

I get it if someone who's projected to go 7 is the first pick in the draft. Because the difference in value between 1 and 7 is so big.

But the value of draft picks flattens out a lot by the time you get to the back 1/3 of the 1st.

So I agree with you that there isn't much difference between 21 and 27. Which is why I'd usually be looking to trade down if I was in the back 1/3 of the 1st round.

 

I am hoping Round 2-3 is better. Hopefully Khan and the Front Office pull themselves off the mat.

No more surreal "That's Howie Roseman's Music" scenes like last night.

 

They have a board that goes more than 20 players deep.

They've been arguing about the order of players on that board for weeks (if not months).

What happens (or at least what should happen) is that you pick the top guy on your board when it's your turn. Maybe this is less true deep into the draft when there's really very little difference between the value of different players.

It's also worth remembering that players always talk about how teams were calling them before they were drafted. Telling them things like "if you're still on the board for our pick, we're going to pick you".

People are making it sound like Kahn is the first GM to ever talk to a player before the team was on the clock.

I don't get it.

 

I think it's not just the Steelers. It seems to be very common based on things players say after they are drafted.

 

I am not going to argue that it is maybe not the best thing in the world to be doing. But everyone is acting/reacting like this is new. It isn't. I get the sense that most teams do it. If not most, then there is enough talk by fans and players that it certainly isn't a uniquely Steelers practice.

This is not the first time a draft pick was told he was going to be drafted by Team X and Team Y traded to draft the player.

But everyone needs to be angry about something all the time.

 

If I ran an NFL team, I would always be looking to trade back. But I don't and I just think the need to assign this guy or that guy as a reach or whatever is just nonsense.

Why? Because Mel Kiper said so? Because your own personal big board didn't line up?

Blake Miller was drafted 7-12 spots or so prior to his "big board" rankings around the internet. Guess the Lions better start looking at resumes for their front office folks.

 

Another 1st round bust.

 

So? I know they have draft boards. The point is that Khan was not situationally aware, the Eagles, two picks below, were hungry for a Wide Receiver given the situation with AJ Brown, and while on the phone with said receiver, didn't lock him down, was made to look foolish, and got his target stolen by a team willing to trade with the a division rival.

Then he had to scramble to the board and lost value on any attempt to trade down because the other teams knew they could lowball. Max as a player could work out perfectly fine.

The issue was not the player targeted or player picked, it was process and lack of tactical awareness which was bad.

 

Arrogance, complacency, lack of foresight and a lack of professionalism. Khan made a complete ass of himself and the Steelers in Pittsburgh in front of the entire country and in front NFL fans worldwide.

I never got on the Khan hype train, and It looks like I was right right not to.

 

Y'all seem to be really big fans of game theory. So play it out.

We know the Eagles offer. 114 and 137. Steelers are the second guy in the conversation. Gonna have to trump that. That means 99 and 135.

To move up one spot to select a #3 WR. On a team that MAY be led by a 6th round second year QB with zero NFL starts. That is a situation well known for being a high volume passing offense.

Just gonna wildly speculate here....people would've lost their ever-loving minds.

 

I wanted trade up for WR, after 2 off board, I wanted trade up for Sadiq, another team did that, then wanted trade up for the USC WR but no, let another team swoop in there. Embarrassing, draft at home, tons of picks and no action, sh*t show!

 

I don't diasagree with your point but I’m thinking he felt disagreeing when perhaps your owner is also enamored with the puck isn't the best move for your future.

That quote from him is beyond comprehension. Nothing we have shown justifies that in any universe!!!

 

You know who is not a sought-after hire for NFL front offices?..........Mel Kiper.

 

Huh? A large portion of the fanbase would complain about the sun rising

 

Some of you wanna be Mel Kiper Jr's need to send your resumes to

100 Art Rooney Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15212

 

Didn’t lock him down?

 

You are vindicated. I thought Khan was doing a good job overall, I didn't agree with everything....but that reputation took a huge hit last night. Khan made amateur cosplay GM Jerry Jones, who is ancient and deluded, look good in comparison.

There is now blood in the water, and the Shark GM's will smell it and circle.

 

What I mean by that is if Khan wanted Lemon so bad, you don't sit pat and wait for him. He should have been on the phone to Jerry Jones and heading off any trade offers, especially from a receiver hungry team two spots below.

They could have gone ahead of Dallas.

 

Holy crap someone actually gets it!

 

I think it's just that it was televised when Philly called them. So people are worried that our team will get talked about in negative light by the talking heads.

Would you have preferred that we got into a bidding war to move up one spot? Or that we overpaid to move up 2 spots?

This team is far enough away from being genuinely competitive that sitting back and letting the draft come to us is a very reasonable thing to do (unless there was a QB worth moving up to get...which there wasn't).

Why do you think we had to "scramble" when you agree that they had a draft board? I'm not sure why looking at the board and picking the next guy on the list is "scrambling". That word choice is kind of like when the MSM talks about things like stock market movements. It's either "soaring" or "crashing". Because that sells better than "results today are well within one to two standard deviations of the expected return for the day".

 

Captain obvious here but I think your first round pick should be an immediate talent that can step in day 1, not a development guy. Too important to miss on first round picks especially if it happens multiple times and on top of it the teams you are chasing don't miss as frequently!!

 

1) Strongly agree re: Kiper and the accuracy of his picks (see Mahomes). Or Mayock as a GM.
2) This is part of the reason why I don't go all in on reading about players and doing mock drafts myself. I feel like I would get to "married" to the fake picks I'd make that I'd think the team was doing something wrong when they didn't pick the guy I picked if he was available.

Max seems like he's got super high upside. Very athletic. Most of the stuff I've read since we drafted him (much from pre-draft so not colored by the pick) seems to say that he has very good footwork. Sounds like he needs to work on the upper body stuff (e.g. punch). And while he's raw, he played more in college than Jones did...and I think most were pretty excited about the Jones pick when it happened.

FWIW, when a team isn't in "win now mode" (and we are in no real "danger" of winning a SB this year), going for higher upside on a high value position seems like a reasonable bet. This is a bet on our offensive coaching staff as much as it's a bet on Max. And for once, we have an offensive minded coach.

It's a gamble (all draft picks are). But if it works out, we'll have a starter for more than a decade at a high value position.

I thought part of the reason everyone loves Weidl is that he's a trenches first kind of guy. He's the one that sets the board. And since he's been here, we've taken guys in the trenches early every year.