Pittsburgh Steelers fans were on the edge of their seats when USC star receiver Makai Lemon fell within one spot of their team's pick. That's when the Philadelphia Eagles swooped in and foiled their plans. The Eagles jumped the Steelers, trading with the Dallas Cowboys, to draft Lemon at pick No. 20.
This was a move that left the fanbase fuming. After Omar Khan and Pittsburgh's front office got the rug pulled out from under them, they pivoted to Arizona State offensive tackle Max Iheanachor. Lemon himself confirmed that the Steelers were indeed going to draft him at pick No. 21 in the first round.
This whole fiasco was enough to lose sleep over. But the Eagles made it worse.
As the dust settled on Day 1 of the 2026 NFL Draft, the Philadelphia Eagles' social media account made a post with the caption "The call of a lifetime." This adds insult to injury for Steelers fans. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network shared more on the Eagles' shocking Makai Lemon move.
lol, go @NHLFlyers pic.twitter.com/sw3Srxjp5n
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) April 24, 2026
Lemon now lands with a quality organization less than two years removed from a Super Bowl title. Now Steelers fans will forever wonder what could have been.
The Pittsburgh Steelers' failure to trade up for Makai Lemon stings even worse now
There's no guarantee that Makai Lemon will turn out to be a great player for the Eagles, but I loved his film. Lemon was the 10th overall player on FanSided's top-50 big board, and landing him at pick 20 already looks like the steal of the first round for Philadelphia.
Now, as Steelers fans live with the pain of missing out on a potential No. 1 receiver, they can only hope that Lemon doesn't turn out to be everything that was advertised. Moving forward, it's inevitable that we will compare Lemon's career to that of Max Iheanachor, whom the Steelers reached against the consensus board to draft at pick No. 21 after the Eagles stole their top target.
Who knows? A few years from now, we could be looking back on this moment and remembering the time that the fanbase was completely disgruntled for nothing. If Iheanachor turns out to be a really good offensive tackle, all of this goes away.
But something tells me Pittsburgh Steelers fans are going to have a bad taste in their mouths every time they see Makai Lemon lighting it up with highlight catches and massive performances in the national spotlight.
Had Khan been a bit more aggressive, the Steelers could have secured Lemon with a minor trade-up, and the Steelers fanbase would all have their minds at ease right now. Instead, we're left wondering if Pittsburgh's lack of aggressiveness will be the front office mistake of a lifetime.
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