The 2026 NFL Draft is only 10 weeks away from its debut on the North Shore to make Pittsburgh the epicenter of the football world. The Steelers have a wide variety of needs on both sides of the ball to address,
most glaringly at quarterback, wide receiver, and defensive back.
A yearly offseason tradition is reading various mock drafts and identifying where the Steelers may go with their first pick. At No. 21 overall, the Steelers will miss out on Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza and potentially some of the top wide receivers in the class.
NFL staff writer Garrett Podell of CBS Sports released his first mock draft on Wednesday. In his opening projection, Podell has the Steelers selecting Clemson cornerback Avieon Terrell.
“I like Terrell because he’s an aggressive DB who’s great at forcing turnovers,” Podell said on 93.7 The Fan.
Terrell forced five fumbles last season, the most of any corner in college football. Podell pointed to Terrell’s eight forced fumbles since 2023 as the most for a corner in the country during that span, linking Terrell to the Steelers’ turnover culture.
“I think he’s a hard-nosed DB that would probably fit in really well in Pittsburgh,” Podell said. “He plays the nickel/slot area well and is a nice closer in short-zone coverage.”
Podell did say that Terrell’s 5-foot-11 frame leads him to sometimes struggle against better wide receivers. Terrell didn’t record an interception in 2025, but totaled 4.5 tackles for loss and three sacks. He picked off three passes over his first two collegiate years.
Avieon Terrell is the younger brother of Falcons elite corner A.J. Terrell, who was the 16th overall pick in 2020. But how similar are they?
“I’d say different games,” Podell said. “A.J. is your prototypical outside corner with the build (6-foot-1, 200 pounds). Avieon is a little smaller (5-foot-11, 180 pounds).
Podell pointed to Asante Samuel, Brandin Echols, and James Pierre being free agents as a key reason why Terrell could make sense. He may fit best as a replacement for Echols, who primarily played the slot.
“At the next level, maybe a nickel. You could play him outside, I think he’d have to run a little bit more of a zone-heavy scheme to make that work with him at outside,” Podell said. “I think he’s going to have a long career at nickel.”
Podell admitted it might be a hard sell to a fan base to pick a nickel corner in the first round, but pointed to the champions as a noteworthy successful comparison.
“Some people look at that and go ‘geez, why would we spend a first-round pick on a nickel corner?’” Podell said. “Look at the Seattle Seahawks, they just won the Super Bowl, and nickel was their most used defensive formation.”
The Seahawks only played base defense on 6.3% of their snaps, the fewest in the NFL. Rookie Nick Emmanwori totaled five tackles in the Super Bowl victory over New England, and finished second in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting behind Browns linebacker Carson SweSchewsinger.
The Steelers finished 2025 17th in points (22.8), 29th in passing yards (243.9), and 28th in total yards (374.1).
“In today’s modern NFL, it’s a pass-heavy game, but if you can stop the run out of nickel and still have five defensive backs on the field, it makes you a pretty tough defense to go up against,” Podell said.
Pittsburgh will host the NFL Draft outside Acrisure Stadium from April 23-25. Past drafts have seen upwards of 500,000 people taking part in draft festivities.
The weekend could be the busiest and one of the o most lucrative in Pittsburgh history.
Podell will release a new mock draft every Wednesday leading up to the first round on April 23.
