If the Pittsburgh Steelers still have an interest in selecting Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson in the 2026 NFL Draft , they may have to use their first-round pick to do so.
Simpson, the consensus No. 2 quarterback in the draft class, behind expected No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza, has been projected as going anywhere from the middle of the first round to late on the second day, with his current stock at No. 35 on the NFL Mock Draft Database consensus big board.
But ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter thinks that Simpson is going to much more comfortably be drafted inside the first round. In an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Monday, Schefter suggested that if a team like the Steelers wants to land Simpson, they'll probably have to use their first-round pick to land him.
"I can say confidently right now, talking to front offices around the league, and it's not going out on a limb, Ty Simpson will be a first-round draft pick," Schefter said. "I think that will be one of the central, focal storylines of the first round of the draft. Where does Ty Simpson go?"
Of course, Schefter's opinion isn't quite as strong as fellow ESPN personality Dan Orlovsky , who believes that Simpson is the best quarterback in the draft class, even better than Mendoza. Former New York Jets general manager and fellow ESPN commentator Mike Tannenbaum said on Monday that other teams share Orlovsky's sentiment when it comes to Simpson.
Schefter also couched his stance by noting that things can chance between now and the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh on April 23.
"Last year at this time, everybody — everybody — had Shedeur Sanders going in the first round. Couldn't slide past Pittsburgh in the 20s. Wasn't going to happen. Lo and behold, on draft night, all of a sudden, he's not taken the first night, he's not taken the second night. … These things, they change and they evolve."
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Insider: Steelers Will Need to Use 1st Rd Pick to Land Ty Simpson
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