Huge 2026 NFL mock draft update rebuilds Steelers offense
This time around we utilized the mock draft simulator from Mock Draft Database that utilizes projected compensatory picks and very up to date prospect rankings.
First round - QB Fernando Mendoza - Indiana
The Steelers pick No. 15 overall in this mock and a run on quarterbacks leave them with Indiana's Fernando Mendoza. He's not a household name yet but by the time the draft gets here, he should be one of the first four quarterbacks off the board.
Second round - CB Jalon Kilgore - South Carolina
Kilgore has prototypical NFL size and athleticism and showed a ton of growth last season in his coverage technique.
Third round - TE Max Klare - Purdue
We are rooting for Darnell Washington but if tight end becomes a bigger part of the offense, a pick like Klare as a receiving weapon makes a lot of sense.
Third round - WR Nic Anderson - LSU
Anderson is healthy and getting a fresh start at LSU. He is good at everything and has no real glaring weaknesses to his game.
Third round - RB Jonah Coleman - Washington
If Jaylen Warren leaves after the season, the Steelers will need to add a back to go with Kaleb Johnson. Coleman is a powerful, squatty back with impressive balance truly elite vision with sneaky athleticism.
Fourth round - OT Drew Shelton - Penn State
Massive powerfuly run blocker who just overwhelms defenders with his size and power.
Fourth round - S Keon Sabb - Alabama
Exceptional developmental safety who might end up going much sooner than this if he can develop more in coverage
Fifth round - IOL - Febechi Nwaiwu - Oklahoma
Nwaiwu transfered to Oklahoma last season and after he got up to speed, really looked good as the team's starting right tackle. We expect him to make another big jump in 2025 and he could be Isaac Seumalos' replacement.
Fifth round - WR Germie Bernard - Alabama
Alabama is Bernard's third FBS team in four seasons. He's not spectacular in any area but he's found a way to develop as a really reliable possession receiver if he can just have some stability in coaching and scheme.
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New York Times
a few seconds ago
- New York Times
Giants stock report: Jaxson Dart hype builds, grading Evan Neal's performance
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Is the door to a Giants QB competition cracked open? Well, coach Brian Daboll's reps' decision in the team's 31-12 victory over the New York Jets certainly briefly started the discussion when Daboll not only threw in rookie QB Jaxson Dart for one play with the starters but gave him a first-team series as well. Advertisement But not so fast. Daboll shut down any discussion postgame by re-affirming that Russell Wilson is indeed the Giants starter as they 'keep developing' Dart. The one-off snap and subsequent series were just part of the development plan the Giants have for their rookie QB. Once more, all four QBs saw the field Saturday night but Wilson and Dart played the majority of the first three quarters. The Dart hype train took off after the rookie QB's stellar performance in his opening preseason game. It's not going back to the station after Dart's equally impressive second week. Dart completed 14-of-16 passes for 137 yards and one touchdown. He also added five rushing yards on two attempts with a TD Dart's day had an interesting flow. In the middle of the second quarter, Dart came in for one rep with the starters after Wilson took the first snap of the series. On the rep, Dart hit TE Theo Johnson for a short pass, which he turned into a 30-yard gain. After the one play, Dart headed back to the sidelines as Wilson finished the series. 'You don't know what's going to happen,' Daboll said. 'Just be ready to go when your number's called.' But on the Giants' next offensive series, Dart was back in with the ones. He went three-and-out here, taking a big hit on second down because of an offensive line mistake. On third down, Dart took off scrambling after Tyler Baron got around right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor. While Dart nearly got away and sprung free for what could have been a long run, he was tripped up by Kingsley Jonathan. Dart returned for two more series with the second-team offense in the second quarter, looking increasingly comfortable with each snap. He led an up-tempo, no-huddle offense and looked in command doing it. Both of those drives ended in touchdowns, including a beautiful 20-yard pass to TE Greg Dulcich. On the play, Dart faked a pitch to RB Dante Miller and then hit Dulcich running down the middle. Dart ➡️ Dulcich for six! 📺: NBC4 — New York Giants (@Giants) August 17, 2025 With Chris Manhertz and Daniel Bellinger both out, that opened the door for the next tight ends up to shine. Both Johnson and Dulcich started the game. Johnson has increasingly become a focal point of the offense and has had a strong camp after his rookie season ended prematurely due to injury. He was targeted just once Saturday but made the most of the opportunity — a 30-yard gain. Advertisement 'He kind of came in the huddle and nobody kind of batted an eye,' Johnson said. 'It was like, 'All right, let's roll.' Like, no clue, no context or anything. Just the perfect setup for the play. Great arm angle, throw, just exactly kind of the look we're looking for that play.' In the second half, Dart hit Dulcich for his one reception — the 20-yard touchdown. 'He just gave me a great ball,' Dulcich said. 'Great play calling set it up. The whole whole offense just did their job. That entire drive is a great drive and a great way to finish it off.' What gets interesting here is how the 53-man shakes out and if Dulcich has done enough to earn a roster spot with Johnson, Manhertz, Bellinger and rookie Thomas Fidone figuring to take four spots. While Wilson might be 36, a highlight part of his game is still producing highlight reels — his moon ball. Wilson threw two notable deep balls Saturday to the same receiver with different results. The starting offense got more reps together in Saturday's win than they did in the first preseason game, with Wilson in at QB for four series. The veteran completed 4-of-7 passes for 108 yards. In Wilson's first series, he launched the ball to undrafted rookie Beaux Collins, who caught the pass for an 80-yard gain. Wilson threw the ball before Collins was even open and the receiver nearly made it into the end zone. Two plays later, RB Devin Singletary scored on a 1-yard run. RUSSELLLLLL WILSONNNNNN 🚀 📺: NBC4 — New York Giants (@Giants) August 16, 2025 'He hit the one,' Daboll said. 'Hit the post. What a great ball by Russ, right? Eighty-yard bomb, dropped it in the bucket. Great protection by the offensive line off an action pass. Really just great vision by Russ to lay it up there.' In the second quarter, on the series that Dart came in for one snap, Wilson again targeted Collins deep but it was intercepted. Advertisement 'Just a little miscommunication,' Wilson said. 'I'll be better there for him and just we were on two different pages, I guess, but it was really more so just me really trusting him early. I kind of put the ball up right before he moved and, it's football.' The CB2 competition appears alive and well despite injuries sidelining both top candidates over the last week. Flott returned to practice after dealing with an injury and with Deonte Banks sidelined, Flott got the CB2 reps. Flott played just two series, while some starters got more reps after. Daboll said that came down to the number of reps that they had in mind for each player. 'Flott had a couple more than we were going to give him,' Daboll said. 'I think he had 18, we were shooting for roughly 10-12 but they got into a little bit of a series.' But Flott looked good and had an impressive PBU when he knocked the ball from Garrett Wilson's hands on third-and-2 in the red zone. That forced the Jets to settle for a field goal. Yes, I'm slightly cheating here with stock neutral this week but hey, I'm the one writing this. Offensive line play can be tough to evaluate fully in the flow of a game but you know when it's really bad — we saw one instance of this from Neal on Saturday. But he also had good moments, like a pull block, which allowed Dart to scramble four yards. And when talking about Neal, the important thing to contextualize is that this was his first game action at guard since college as he transitions from tackle. Neal came in at right guard for Greg Van Roten after two offensive series. He finished with three series with the ones and then got two series with the second-teamers, looking better with each one and he didn't seem to cause any notable negative noise. The one obviously bad snap he played occurred in Dart's series with the starters, in which the offense went three-and-out. On second down, DT Phidarian Mathis blew past Neal, forcing Dart to throw an incompletion and take a hard hit. Advertisement 'I played it like it was a run action pass, but the quarterback was dropping back,' Neal said. 'He read it. I went too far inside. He capitalized by going outside. So I really put that on me, just making a mistake.' There's still plenty to see from Neal when it comes to his move inside after he missed the first preseason game with an injury. The big caveat is that these guys are rookies. They're playing their first game snaps and have shown positives. But they're bound to have their welcome-to-the-NFL moment and we witnessed two of those Saturday. As much as Abdul Carter has appeared to seamlessly transition to the NFL from college, he did have a moment when he looked like a rookie. In the second quarter, Carter got chipped by Jets TE Stone Smartt, sending him to the ground. While Carter quickly got up to continue the play, he ended back on the ground after the tackle shoved him down. '(Stuff) just happens on the football field, but we got the win, so we're good,' Carter said. Collins, meanwhile, had that beautiful touchdown pass, only to have an interception on the similar play later in the game. Again, it's these guys' first (Collins) or second (Carter) game. Take a deep breath and remember that. The rush defense was a sore point last season, allowing the sixth-most rushing yards in the NFL. And the Jets seemed to try to capitalize on that Saturday night. Yes, the other NY team has a good run game but the Giants allowed 141 yards on the ground on 33 carries. This was most evident in the Jets' second offensive series as they rushed down the field in a 12-play, 52-yard drive. The Jets ran it 11 times. What was interesting here is that with all the ground success the Jets were having on the drive, Justin Fields threw to Wilson here on third-and-2 — which was broken up by Flott. For as good as the pass rush is shaping up to be, this is going to be an area to watch. (Photo of Dart: Vincent Carchietta / Imagn Images) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
USA Today
29 minutes ago
- USA Today
Steelers countdown to kickoff — No. 21: a history of the number and who wore it best
The Steelers countdown to kickoff is here — and we're at 21 days until Pittsburgh faces off against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. In the spirit of the countdown, we're taking a look at the history of No. 21 and the players who wore it best. Current Steelers No. 21 wearer: S Chuck Clark One of the newest additions to Pittsburgh's safety room, S Chuck Clark is the current No. 21 wearer on the Steelers roster. Clark spent six seasons in enemy territory, AKA the Baltimore Ravens, before joining the Jets in 2023. His presence in Pittsburgh is designed to bolster the depth behind FS Juan Thornhill and SS DeShon Elliott — but he's a capable starter if his number is called. Last five Steelers to wear No. 21: Best No. 21 in Steelers history: C Chuck Cherundolo Arguably the best Steeler to wear No. 21 is C Chuck Cherundolo — a talented Pennsylvania native who played for the Steelers during the 1940s. He signed with the Cleveland Rams as an undrafted free agent in 1937 and played three seasons there before joining the Philadelphia Eagles in 1940. Cherundolo signed with Pittsburgh the following year and played for the Steelers from 1941-1942 and 1945-1948. During his Steel City tenure, Cherundolo was named to two Pro Bowls and earned a Second Team All-Pro selection. For his stellar play in the 1940s, Cherundolo was named to the Pittsburgh Steelers Legends Team — more reason to name him the best to ever wear No. 21. For up-to-date Steelers coverage, follow us on X @TheSteelersWire and give our Facebook page a like.
New York Times
31 minutes ago
- New York Times
Vanderbilt football has a cancer beater and a life ‘forever changed' in Marlon Jones
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — College football programs have their dates, some more than others, precious few for Vanderbilt. But Oct. 5, 2024, is an all-timer. That's a date the Vanderbilt participants, fans and families will always hold close. One of those families shared emotions beyond the obvious thrill and awe of the Commodores beating Alabama 40-35 at Vanderbilt Stadium. It was a feelings bouillabaisse for the Joneses of Puyallup, Wash. The things Clark Lea told Marlon Jones and his parents, things that convinced the Eastern Washington graduate transfer cornerback to choose Vanderbilt over Colorado, Washington State and others, were materializing on that field. Advertisement It didn't hurt that the coach on the Alabama sideline, Kalen DeBoer, was part of one of their least favorite recruiting experiences while he was still coaching Washington — about 40 miles north of their home — in 2023. Beating the dominant program in college football and DeBoer at the same time? Seeing work pay off in stunning results? Planting a spotlight on the genius of quarterback Diego Pavia and commandeering American sports headlines? What a day. 'I had never seen my mom that happy,' Jones said. 'Just screaming at the TV.' But that's what hurt: Jones was next to his mom to see it. He was in the living room at home with his parents, Marlon Sr. and Amena. He was tired, weakened from months of chemotherapy treatments to attack the stage 3 Hodgkin's lymphoma that doctors diagnosed the day before he was supposed to move to Vanderbilt. Of course, he was happy for Lea, GM Barton Simmons, the defensive coaches, players such as Miles Capers and Marlen Sewell, whom he had befriended on visits to Nashville. But he was supposed to start at cornerback for that team and be part of that experience. 'You have all this momentum, you're heading to a new place, you're hearing this vision for you and the team, so it's obviously a little hard to have that stripped away by something you can't control,' Jones said. 'But it was great to see coach Lea's vision come to fruition — I mean, we beat Bama, we beat Virginia Tech, we proved a lot of people wrong.' Jones said this last week at Vanderbilt, dripping with sweat after another practice, another day of trying to establish a role for himself on a team that faces the unfamiliar charge of proving people right. With Pavia back and the talent level rising on the roster after a 7-6 breakthrough, expectations and anticipation greet Lea's fifth season. Jones, who turns 24 on Tuesday, has one season of college football left. It's taking place one year later than planned and, as things go in college football these days, the depth chart has been jumbled. He's tougher in some ways — staring down cancer, beating it and going into full remission will do that for someone — but the chemo also took its toll. Advertisement Jones had a long way back physically and, though he joined the program in January, he wasn't cleared for full activity until summer workouts. Also, toughness and confidence aren't the same thing. 'I know the winter and spring were hard for him,' Lea said of the 6-foot-1, 190-pound Jones. 'But whatever his limitations are, this guy, he works around them. He works through them. He spends so much time meeting extra, meeting with coaches, with other players, asking questions, focusing on technique. He's obsessed with it. That has put him in position quickly to be a factor for us.' Jones waited to hop into the transfer portal until December 2023, after he had played in parts of five seasons at Eastern Washington — one of them a Covid-19-shortened spring stint — and earned a business management degree. The three-star recruit had offers from Utah State and others coming out of Tacoma Curtis High, but he chose coach Aaron Best's FCS program and improved gradually. Coming off an All-Big Sky season in 2023, featuring touchdowns on all three interceptions, Jones had an opportunity to level up, put a few bucks in his pocket and see what might be next. More football? Great. Nursing school? Football forced him to scrap his medical interests as an undergraduate, but he still had those interests. The hometown Washington Huskies reached out, but that ended quickly, weeks before DeBoer bolted for Alabama. Jones did not feel prioritized. Colorado, Houston, Purdue, Washington State and Oregon State approached with more purpose. None of them did so with the intensity or specificity of Clark Lea's Vanderbilt program. Lea and his coaches had a plan based on analysis that could only be gleaned from deep film study to present Jones and his parents. It wasn't close. 'You never really know how things are going to sort out,' Lea said of the recruitment. 'But we weren't adding him to be a backup.' Advertisement More memorable dates followed. Jones committed on Dec. 21, 2023. Two months later, he noticed a lump about the size of a gumball on the side of his neck. He had no symptoms and a history of swollen lymph nodes, so doctors weren't concerned at first. But it never went away. The family got a second and third opinion, finally to the point of an ultrasound and biopsy. On April 19, 2024, Jones and Amena were scheduled to fly from Seattle to Nashville to get him settled into his new home. On April 18, 2024, Marlon Sr. began driving his son's car the roughly 2,400 miles to Vanderbilt so he would have it on campus. Before that day ended, he got a call and turned the car around, distraught. His 22-year-old, perfectly fit, Division I athlete son had cancer. 'Your world is immediately flipped upside down,' he said. Doctors at Multicare Cancer Center of Puyallup were confident, telling the family that this sort of cancer had a strong remission rate, especially for the young and healthy. But cancer isn't sports. Stats only mean so much. It comes with mental anguish, which in turn can make it more difficult to beat. 'It's important for me to say that as a family we've always had a faith and that's what we tried to stand on,' Amena said. 'But for me, I have to be honest, my faith was shaken for a minute there. You hear 'cancer' and you don't think good thoughts, right? You imagine losing a lot of weight, the sickness from treatments and then what side effects are going to come out of it? It's your child, it's happening right in front of you and there's nothing you can do about it. One day you're OK and the next day you're devastated, but you can't show him that. 'And then as it turns out, he has the most strength out of anybody. He stayed consistently confident through the whole thing. Which taught me a lesson.' On that point, Jones said: 'Of course, it crushed me. I was sad. I was scared. But at no point did I think I was going to lose my life. That's a credit to my faith, I just believed and trusted in God's plan. I knew He didn't cause me to have this, but He was going to use it for good. The only thing I was really worried about was football.' Advertisement To that point, April 19, 2024, was a big one even without the flight to Nashville. It was the day Lea called to offer his support and reassure Jones that Vanderbilt was undeterred. As unthinkable as it may be to consider a program dropping an athlete in this kind of duress — 'almost a tough statement on where we are in society,' Lea said — those words mattered. A lot. 'He tells Marlon, 'Nothing is changing, your deal's not changing, we'll see you next season,' and I'm telling you, there was a relief that overcame Marlon's body during that call,' Amena said. 'I just wanted him to know he doesn't need to worry about six months from (now), we'll take care of that, he just needs to focus on today,' Lea said. 'One at a time. He has an incredible family and just knowing the anxiety they must have felt … the sense of relief when we had that conversation was something I'll always remember.' As anyone who has dealt with cancer can attest, mindset can be a critical factor and work either way in the fight. Jones had hard stretches in the months ahead, but he knew the reward was the opportunity simply to suit up against some of the best teams and players in college football, in some of its hallowed atmospheres. Few can speak of that experience. He stayed in touch Vanderbilt players and coaches during that time. He went to Bible college. He did what he could to stave off the damage chemotherapy does to a body. The texts and calls were flying, in particular, after the win over Alabama. Now Jones is in position to compete at a high level again, and he's taking classes that can set him up for nursing school if that's his choice after football. 'This program will have forever changed my life,' Jones said. 'It's a tight-knit team, guys love each other, guys are genuine with each other. I've seen guys get emotional around each other and be vulnerable, which is important to really grow. Coach Lea has been big on breaking down impurities that we have amongst ourselves, breaking down bad habits and really forming together as one. He's done a great job of instilling that, and we're applying it to our lives.' Jones' life already has produced indelible moments and a story Lea thinks can strengthen the Vanderbilt locker room. He also expects Jones to help on the field. The journey begins Aug. 30 against Charleston Southern. Circle Sept. 6 (at Virginia Tech), Oct. 4 (at Alabama), Nov. 1 (at Texas) and Nov. 29 (at Tennessee), opportunities for more memories. None of them should touch Oct. 15, 2024, though. Ten days after watching his Commodores beat the Crimson Tide, Jones rang the bell at the hospital, signifying the end of his treatments. And he witnessed a new standard in mother happiness. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
