While the Steelers did not call the Cowboys about trading up for Makai Lemon during last month’s draft, they did explore a move to the Buccaneers’ No. 15 pick to land the USC wide receiver, per Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (via the Rich Eisen Show).
Tampa Bay, though, did not expect Miami edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. to be available midway through the first round, and they quickly pounced on one of their top-ranked defenders. Pittsburgh looked at the five teams ahead of them at No. 21 – the Jets, Lions, Vikings, Panthers, and Cowboys – and assessed that none would take a wide receiver. They were correct; however, they did not anticipate getting jumped by Philadelphia, who traded up for Dallas’ pick and selected Lemon.
In what may be remembered as an infamous draft night moment, the Steelers were on the phone with Lemon informing him that he would be the 21st pick – while the Cowboys were still on the clock – when the Eagles made their move. General manager Howie Roseman called Lemon, who awkwardly hung up with the Steelers and got the news that he would be headed to Philly instead.
The Steelers pivoted to Arizona State offensive tackle Max Iheanachor, a 6-foot-6, 330-pound physical specimen who will fill a key need in Pittsburgh right away. If he proves to be a high-level starter, then missing out on Lemon may have been a blessing in disguise, as reliable offensive tackles are much harder to find than productive wide receivers. Trading up with the Buccaneers likely would have cost the Steelers their third-round pick, too, which they ended up using on Penn State quarterback Drew Allar.
Pittsburgh was also willing to trade up for safety Caleb Downs and wide receiver Carnell Tate, Dulac added, though both were selected long before they were in the Steelers’ range. Tate went surprisingly early to the Titans at No. 4, while the Cowboys moved up one pick to snag Downs at No. 11. An aggressive move up for Downs would have required Pittsburgh’s second-round pick, which they used to grab one of their other preferred wideouts, Alabama’s Germie Bernard.
Steelers are so bad at drafting in the first round.
But then they do well in the mid rounds.
Wow what exciting repeated old info. Sad when a quarter of your posts are about what could have happened and another quarter are about loser Aaron Rodgers.
I find it interesting to get a peek into the thought processes of teams. If you don’t like the post, don’t read it.
“Pittsburgh looked at the five teams ahead of them at No. 21 – the Jets, Lions, Vikings, Panthers, and Cowboys – and assessed that none would take a wide receiver.”
Jets most pressing need was receiving (outside of QB) and i think it shocked everyone that they took Kenyon when Mason Taylor was already doing pretty well his first season and the fact they traded back into the 1st round to get a WR says different. That and pretty much every mock draft had them going WR with that pick. If after the jets 2nd pick they reassessed then yes it would be correct
Maybe you are insinuating the steelers had inside information on the Jets draft room perhaps a cup against the wall or spy there? Hmm because of this can the jets get tampering charges against the steelers and maybe get their 1st rd pick next year?
“they did not anticipate getting jumped by Philadelphia, who traded up for Dallas’ pick and selected Lemon”.
The NFL should have the Eagles and Ravens swap divisions. The AFC North would then have both an Ohio and Pennsylvania rivalry. Baltimore and Washington are basically neighbors so that would be a natural rivalry too.
The eagles and Washington and Giants are close proximity rivals. steelers are in PA but 8+ hours away, Pitt and philly don’t care about each other. The cowboys need to be flushed somewhere else.
I absolutely hate lemon and I’m an Eagles fan. I don’t like the fact that his raw skills aren’t going to be enough to run away from Good talent at the NFL level. However, the Steelers have a great track record sniffing out wide receivers and if they liked him then maybe he’ll be okay.
Bucs probably do the trade if Bain didn’t slide to them since the other edges could have been had. If they loved Sadiq I guess they would have stayed for him.
Who cares. It’s all old news