The Pittsburgh Steelers’ first round of the 2026 NFL Draft caused quite a stir when General Manager Omar Khan called Makai Lemon to tell him he was going to be a Steeler. The only issue was that Lemon was confused about why the Philadelphia Eagles were calling his phone. It turned out the Dallas Cowboys had traded with the Eagles, jumped the Steelers, and selected Lemon.
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Steelers General Manager Omar Khan holds a cell phone up to his ear while taking a call.
Right in the Steel City of Pittsburgh, which hosted the draft for the first time ever, many felt like Pittsburgh got robbed. However, that is how the draft works, and if Pittsburgh really wanted Lemon, they had the draft capital to trade up and take him. The Steelers then drafted Max Iheanachor 21st overall. This choice came quickly as Pittsburgh saw the run on offensive tackles and wanted to go ahead and get their guy from Arizona State.
While fans and pundits will spend the coming weeks debating the picks, Pittsburgh still wrapped up a solid 2026 NFL Draft. Not everyone is praising the value as much as they did in 2025, but the Steelers did a good job of picking and choosing how to elevate this team. The most encouraging part is that they used much of their draft capital on the offensive side of the football, something Steelers fans have been asking for quite some time. Steelers insider Gerry Dulac went on the DVE Morning Show to detail one mistake he believed Khan made in this draft.
"To me, after the Steelers took Max Iheanachor and didn’t get the wide receiver, they had a great opportunity to get back into the first round," Dulac said while speaking on the Randy Baumann and the DVE Morning Show. "Especially when you just saw the New York Jets do that. The Jets gave up a seventh to get back into the first round. The Steelers had all that capital to do that. We will see, though, that is why Germie Bernard is going to be a key here. I mean, if he turns out to be really good, then OK, none of that seems so bad, but they could have jumped back into the first round and taken Omar Cooper, who they really liked and who the Jets took."
It will be very interesting to monitor the future of wide receiver Germie Bernard, whom Pittsburgh took 47th overall after trading up to get him.
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Steelers' Germie Bernard plays in a home game during his time at Alabama.
Dulac suggested Pittsburgh could have traded back into the first round to select wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr., but believes they missed out there.
"That’s where I kind of thought that maybe they missed the boat," Dulac said. "I thought they also missed the boat on, if you wanted Makai Lemon. They were willing to trade up for three guys. Two of them they were never going to get, in Carnell Tate and Caleb Downs. The Ohio State guys, they could never have gotten, but Makai Lemon was another one. It’s easy for me to say they had an opportunity, but look, Philadelphia gave up two fourth-round picks to move up two spots. The Steelers had that draft capital too, if they really wanted him. I mean, they did want him, but I guess they thought Dallas wasn’t going to take him, and then Dallas makes the trade."
Steelers End Up With Nice 2026 Draft Haul
If the Steelers had traded back into the first round and drafted Cooper, it would have been super exciting. However, many would argue that staying put worked out, as they traded up in Round 2 to select Bernard.
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Steelers General Manager Omar Khan signs pictures for the fans as the team prepares to work out during a training camp practice in Latrobe, PA.
There is no saying whether Cooper is going to be better than Bernard or vice versa, so either way it worked out. However, Dulac does believe Khan missed out by not trading back into the first round. Time will tell.
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