Five biggest NFL draft takeaways from Daniel Jeremiah’s conference call previewing 2026 event
1) WR fits for Steelers. The Steelers have been combing the WR ranks during the pre-draft process, even after acquiring Michael Pittman Jr. this offseason to go along with DK Metcalf. They might even use their first-round pick on a wideout, which could excite Pittsburgh fans next Thursday night.
Jeremiah said he thinks Washington’s Denzel Boston is one that makes sense with the 21st overall pick.
“That would give them three giants out there,” Jeremiah said.
Outside the first round, Jeremiah mentioned Alabama’s Germie Bernard and two other fast-rising WR prospects as players to keep an eye on: Georgia State’s Ted Hurst and Ole Miss’ De’Zhaun Stribling.
“Both of those guys (Hurst and Stribling) have a lot of heat, talking to folks around the league,” Jeremiah said.
He especially sounded excited about Stribling, who has helped his cause a lot since the end of the season, running a 4.36-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine.
“The more you watched him, the more you liked him, at least for me,” Jeremiah said of Stribling. “He catches everything. … What also has helped him has been meeting with teams, (they) have been impressed with how football-intelligent he is.”
2) Why Titans shouldn’t pass on Love. The Titans have an interesting call with the fourth overall pick. They can continue surrounding QB Cam Ward with a player such as Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love or they could continue building up a defense that allowed the fifth-most points in the NFL last season.
Jeremiah said his natural instinct would be to fix the defense — and the offensive line — prior to adding a playmaker such as Love.
“The Titans (are) a fascinating one,” Jeremiah said. “I’ve always had the rule of, you need to build out the key parts of the roster, including the offensive line, before you insert the running back. The career, the shelf life, you want to be able to maximize all their carries. You don’t want to waste carries on a bad team with a running back. You’d like to build it up and then drop the running back in.”
But because Love is such a strong prospect, he’d be willing to go against his own philosophy in this case.
“I’m breaking my own rule in saying I still think they should take Jeremiyah Love even though they don’t have all those pieces in place,” he said, “with the hope being that one more offseason of free agency and the draft, they can build up that offensive line, the rest of that offense.
“They go into a new stadium I believe that year, so in Year 2, I think you could see that whole offense really start to blossom.”
Jeremiah said Love is a “complete back who can do everything.” Although Jeremiah had a stronger grade on Saquon Barkley, who was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, he said his grade Love is similar to the one he gave Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson (who went eighth in 2023) and is higher than the one he gave Jahmyr Gibbs (12th in 2023).
“He’s explosive,” Jeremiah said of Love, “and he’s not a little guy — he’s 212 pounds.”
