With a new head coach in Mike McCarthy and with a short Pro Day scouting trail from general manager Omar Khan, it was harder to track the Steelers' pre-draft interests during the 2026 offseason than it has been in years past.
But there's one player this team is certain to love ahead of Round 1 tonight: Penn State guard Olaivavega Ioane.
Unfortunately, this expected top Steelers target could get snatched up by a hated divisional rival before Pittsburgh even gets a shot to come close to drafting him. According to the latest odds from DraftKings Sportsbook, Vega Ioane is the odds-on favorite to be the selection of the Baltimore Ravens with the No. 14 overall pick.
This would sting. While the Ravens wouldn't necessarily be getting great positional value by taking a guard in the middle of the first round, Ioane is viewed as one of the safest players in the 2026 draft, and his impressive strength and physical profile give him Pro Bowl upside at the next level. In comparison to many other first-round candidates this year, Vega feels like a sure thing.
Draftkings Sportsbook has Ioane's odds of landing with the Ravens at +230, higher than any other player to hear their name called at this spot. This feels like a sucker punch to Steelers fans.
The Pittsburgh Steelers' odds of landing Olaivavega Ioane without a trade-up are slim
It only takes a few guard-needy teams to pass on Ioane between pick No. 14 and pick No. 20 for the impressive Penn State product to fall to the Steelers. However, the odds of this happening seem slim. Knowing that he's a safe, plug-and-play guard prospect means that some team will likely take a chance on him sooner.
While moving up a few spots is always an option, considering the draft capital Pittsburgh has to work with this year, it's hard to justify jumping ahead of the Ravens for a guard at the end of the day. The cost would simply be too high.
This means that the Steelers could be at the mercy of Ravens GM Eric DeCosta and the direction this AFC North rival takes tonight. Perhaps Baltimore will go with a player who doesn't seem to be high on Pittsburgh's draft radar, like Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq.
Steelers fans won't be happy if the Baltimore Ravens announce Olaivavega Ioane as their first-round pick tonight, and it makes you wonder how different things would be looking in the NFL Draft right now had Ravens kicker Tyler Loop simply made the chip-shot game-winning field goal over the Steelers in Week 18 last year, and Pittsburgh was picking ahead of Baltimore.
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