Steelers’ ability to select polarizing WR prospect might have received a shot in the arm following latest NFL Draft news
There are new questions about one of the 2026 NFL Draft’s best wide receivers, and they could help the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Pittsburgh Steelers need to throw multiple darts at the WR acquisition board this offseason. Free agency and the NFL Draft are the two avenues in which the Steelers can add to the unit, with the former up first.
While there are some notable names on the free agent market (Tyreek Hill, Mike Evans, Deebo Samuel) most of them are towards the end of their prime. The Steelers need to find their WR of the future, something they thought they had with George Pickens.
It just so happens that this year’s draft class is rich in WR talent, and after the NFL Combine, one of the top names could be in a spot where the Steelers can pounce.
USC WR Makai Lemon could experience a fall in stock that would help the Steelers
Makai Lemon is thought in some league circles to be the best WR in the class. He is fresh off a 2025 season that saw him win the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s best WR for the USC Trojans. He may not have the frame (5-11, 192) to be a dominant boundary WR, but he torched collegiate defenses and he could see a Jaxon Smith-Njigba-like role very early on in the NFL.
So why might he fall? Well, his personality won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. During his podium session at last week’s NFL Combine, some questioned the responses and body language of Lemon in front of the media.
That wasn’t all, though, as former Steelers nose tackle Breiden Fehoko dropped some intel on what he heard about Lemon behind the scenes…
“I talked to a scout just now who said he didn’t know what Makai Lemon’s motive was behind his combine interviews but whoever advised the kid needs to be fired. “Absolutely bombed it” word for word.” – Fehoko, via X-Twitter
Why Lemon is still a first-round WR
Even if Lemon turned some teams off with his interviews and his podium session came across as pompous, my rebuttal would be: he’s a wide receiver. Plaxico Burress, Emmanuel Sanders, Antonio Brown, Diontae Johnson, George Pickens, you name a Steelers WR over the past 20 years and they probably rubbed someone the wrong way.
Can he play football? Yes. Does he have any real character concerns? Not that we know of. So for the Steelers’ sake, they should hope that the 20 teams picking in front of them were rubbed the wrong way, because someone is going to get a proven product at WR.
Pittsburgh Steelers News
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