With just three days until the kickoff of the 2026 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers' decision-makers held their annual press conference. General manager Omar Khan and new head coach Mike McCarthy fielded questions from the media ahead of the draft.
Khan and McCarthy spoke on Broderick Jones' injury status, what the team looks for in a wide receiver, the team's confidence in the process, and more. Toward the end of the media session, Khan was asked directly about his trend of selecting players in the first round that the team had met with for pre-draft visits.
While the Steelers' GM hinted that there was a reason he brought players in for 30 visits—and it wasn't for smokescreen purposes—he hinted that the front office may be willing to select a player in Round 1 that they did not meet with for a pre-draft visit.
"I wouldn't say that our pick would have to be someone who was in for a top-30 visit," Khan told the media on Monday.
While Khan's words could prove to hold true, his delivery made it sound like they would have a hard time straying from this longstanding trend.
The Pittsburgh Steelers likely to hold true to 30-visit trend draft trend in Round 1, despite Omar Khan's comments
Perhaps we're reading a bit too deeply into his reaction, but the tone and Khan's body language made it sound like there is still a strong chance they will draft a player they met with for a 30-minute visit. The Steelers have the longest running streak of doing this than any team in the NFL—taking a pre-draft visitor in the first round in five straight drafts.
This means the Steelers are 3/3 during the Omar Khan era when it comes to drafting 30 visit players in Round 1... and Khan didn't give us quite enough confidence to believe that streak will end.
For those curious, the Steelers brought in six players who could be considered potential options at pick No. 21 in the first round (or higher, if the team intends to trade up). These were USC wide receiver Makai Lemon, Utah offensive tackle Spencer Fano, Penn State guard Vega Ioane, Washington wide receiver Denzel Boston, Toledo safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, and San Diego State cornerback Chris Johnson.
The Steelers also met with Auburn defensive back Treydan Stukes as the final of their 30 pre-draft visits last week. Stukes has been gaining steam fast, and there are whispers that the athletic DB could climb into the end of the first round. Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, whom the Steelers met with for a pre-draft visit, is also a long shot to be in play in Round 1.
Omar Khan can say what he wants to the media, but until we finally see Pittsburgh buck this predictable draft trend, it would be wise to predict that the Steelers' first-round selection will be a player who met with the team on a 30-minute visit.
Add us as a preferred source on Google