Steelers' Draft Drama: Lemon Slips Away, Bell on Radar

0:00It's April 24th. This is NFL News Today, powered by AI, your gridiron update. I'm Cory with the story. The Pittsburgh Steelers grabbed headlines on day one of the 2026 NFL Draft, but not how they planned. They were set to grab USCY receiver McCoy Lemon at Pick 21, talking to him on the phone, right there in the green room. But the Dallas Cowboys traded Pick 20 to the Philadelphia Eagles, who snagged Lemon at the last second. Pittsburgh pivoted and took Arizona State offensive tackle Max Ihanakor instead. Head coach Mike McCarthy broke it down later on the Rich Eisen show. He said once you hit the 20s, you got a group of solid players lined up, and Lemon was one of them. But things worked out, with Max now on the squad, calling it divine timing. Fans and analysts called it straight embarrassing for the Steelers, especially with that video leaking of Lemon chatting on the phone just before the pick. Getting a top receiver prospect like him left a bad vibe, and it blew up as the big drama of Round 1.

1:01Pittsburgh still has a huge hole at wide out. Looking ahead to day two, names like Washington's Denzel Boston, Alabama's Jeremy Bernard, and Louisville's Chris Bell are on their radar. Bell's coming off a torn ACL from November, but he's intriguing. The Steelers got to move fast now, maybe trading up early in Round 2 to lock in a receiver and avoid another close call. They'll be all in to fill that need.