Pittsburg, PA
Pittsburgh’s 2026 Draft Short List – The Team’s Eight Most Likely First-Round Selections
The NFL Draft is always unpredictable and under a new head coach, it’s fuzzier than any time in recent memory to guess who the Pittsburgh Steelers will select in the first round. But if history continues predicting the future, it’ll be one of the eight below names.
Every year since at least 2010, Pittsburgh’s first-round pick has fallen into one of two camps: either the player came in for a pre-draft visit or a decision maker, head coach or general manager, attended that prospect’s pro day.
So let’s assume that holds true even though we know it may not. Under those criteria, there are eight names that fit. Let’s break them down into the two buckets.
Pre-Draft Visit
WR Denzel Boston/Washington
WR Makai Lemon/USC
OT Spencer Fano/Utah
OG Vega Ioane/Penn State
CB Chris Johnson/CB San Diego State
S Emmanuel McNeil-Warren/Toledo
Pro Day Attendance
OT Monroe Freeling/Georgia
ILB CJ Allen/Georgia
Could you stretch it to more? I suppose. Texas Tech ILB Jacob Rodriguez could be argued in the first round. Ditto with Georgia Tech OG Keylan Rutledge and Arizona DB Treydan Stukes. But those feel far less likely to be taken on Day 1, let alone at No. 21.
Mike McCarthy and Omar Khan attended only the Bulldogs’ Pro Day this year, an unusually low number of workouts compared to the past. McCarthy told reporters he planned to attend six but only made it to Georgia. That leaves just two names from that bucket, and Freeling could easily be off the board by the time Pittsburgh picks. He may be on Cleveland’s radar.
Of the eight, who is most likely? That opinion can and will vary. Receiver and offensive line have been specific areas of focus, but there’s no telling how the board will fall. I’ll have my final mock draft Tuesday with my answer.
If the Steelers’ pick isn’t one of these eight, it’ll break a longstanding tradition. And in future years, open up the field of how the team could take at the top.
Last year, Americans received nearly 30 billion scam robocalls and text messages. Now, leaders in Pennsylvania are taking a new approach to try to crack down on them.
“It’s not just certain audiences that are targeted in this space. It’s really everybody,” said Kate Sullivan, CEO of Better Business Bureau of Western Pennsylvania. “Robocalling is just faster and more aggressive than it’s ever been,” Sullivan said.
The prevalence, exacerbated by artificial intelligence, is why 49 attorneys general across the country sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission to strengthen its rules to prevent scammers from accessing legitimate phone numbers.
“You have individuals that will purchase maybe 100,000 different phone numbers,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday said. “Those numbers will land somewhere where you have a nefarious actor who will use those numbers to do the robocalls.”
Sunday is part of the Anti-Robocall Task Force, along with West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey. Last year, the coalition sent warning letters to major phone service providers to stop allowing illegal robocalls to reach consumers. Now they’re building on this by going directly to the FCC.
“The consumer matters, and we want to make sure that our constituents, the consumers that are in our states’ voices, are being heard at the highest level as loudly as they can be,” McCuskey said.
Sunday said they want to put more onus on companies to not sell these numbers, and if they do, to have documentation that can be provided to law enforcement so they can trace back and hold the scammers accountable.
KDKA-TV reached out to the FCC for comment. A spokesperson said in part that they “welcome this input from state leaders.” They also mentioned, “The Commission proposed expanding certification and disclosure requirements to all providers that receive telephone numbering resources… to stop scammers from exploiting gaps in the system.”
“Getting ahead of it and more protections for the consumers, I think, does have quite a bit of value,” Sullivan said.
As for what you can do, the BBB and AGs said it’s better to let a robocall go to voicemail. If you decline it, that indicates you’re a real person and may get more calls. Also, make sure to report robocalls to the BBB or the Federal Trade Commission.
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