The Pittsburgh Steelers enter the 2026 NFL Draft with 12 picks and no shortage of needs. However, unlike years past, it's been hard to narrow down which position the team will take in Round 1. This has been evidenced by the wide range of final Steelers mock predictions in the days leading up to the draft.
Based on the team's pre-draft visits and interests throughout the process, their top targets could come down to USC wide receiver Makai Lemon, Penn State guard Vega Ioane, and Utah offensive tackle Spencer Fano—and all three may require a trade-up for Pittsburgh to land them.
But one prominent NFL analyst just linked a first-round target to the Steelers that we aren't used to hearing.
On Wednesday, the eve of the NFL Draft, ESPN's Peter Schrager attempted to make sense of the draft madness with a predictive mock draft. With the No. 21 pick, Schrager had the Steelers taking Georgia offensive tackle Monroe Freeling.
"The expectation is Aaron Rodgers will be back. Pittsburgh has to make sure the protection is right with a 42-year-old quarterback, even if Rodgers gets the ball out quickly again. Freeling started for only a season and a half in college, but he's athletic and has a lot of starter-level traits," Schrager wrote on ESPN.
This isn't a name we've heard connected to the Steelers often over the past month. Freeling was not brought in for a pre-draft visit, nor did the team meet with him formally at the NFL Combine. However, Schrager has some inside connections, and perhaps this is the latest buzz that he's hearing.
Drafting Freeling would actually make a ton of sense.
Peter Schrager predicts the Pittsburgh Steelers will draft Georgia OT Monroe Freeling
Though Freeling didn't earn a coveted pre-draft visit with the Steelers, Pittsburgh's brass—including Omar Khan and Mike McCarthy—were on hand at Georgia's Pro Day this year. In fact, this was the only Pro Day Khan and McCarthy attended together throughout the entire pre-draft process.
This is a subtle box checked for Freeling to be a sneaky selection. But there are other reasons to justify taking the Georgia offensive tackle.
Following the news that left tackle Broderick Jones had suffered an injury setback and that his timetable to return to the field is murky, the Steelers may have shifted gears in their Round 1 draft philosophy. Jones was entering the final year of his contract and wasn't about to receive a fifth-year option, but their need at left tackle just became more urgent.
Though he has just a year-and-a-half of starting experience, Freeling has an outstanding combination of size and athletic traits—making him a tackle worth betting on at the next level. At 6'7 3/8'' and 315 pounds with an impressive 84 1/2'' wingspan and 10 3/4'' hands, Freeling looks the part of an NFL left tackle.
He also posted a 4.93 40-yard dash and a 33 1/2'' vertical at the NFL Combine. The combination of his size and athletic traits netted Freeling a 9.99 Relative Athletic Score—among the best ever recorded for an offensive lineman. And we know athletic traits matter to Khan and the front office.
I still don't know how likely it is that the Pittsburgh Steelers would be willing to break their five-year streak of taking a player in the first round that they met with for a 30 visit, but don't be shocked if they go with a less talked-about name like Monroe Freeling if he's still on the board at pick No. 21.
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