The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted the right guy.

I’m as shocked as anybody. Especially with Shedeur Sanders’ availability giving Mike Tomlin the opportunity to go showbiz with a shiny new toy.

But defensive line big-timers had tumbled off the board: Michigan’s Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant and Ole Miss’ Walter Nolen, all gone. Oregon’s Derrick Harmon was a pick that made itself given the sorry state of the Steelers on the defensive side of the trenches.

Will Harmon finally enable the Steelers’ defense to be elite?

We say it is, but the numbers say it isn’t: The Steelers defense ranked 12th in yards allowed last year, eighth in points. That’s solid, no better. The defense was haphazard against good teams.

The telecast of the NFL Draft defined cheesy. It felt like a game show. Lots of idiots screaming. Some of them get drafted. Nonstop yelling and posturing, just like ESPN from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. weekdays.

But there was also crying.

Draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. was apoplectic that the Steelers passed on Sanders at the 21st pick. Absolutely outraged. Kiper = all Sanders, all the time. You’d think Shedeur was Mel’s kid. (He isn’t. You can tell by the hair.)

Josina Anderson was crazy upset, too.

Louis Riddick said Sanders could be the next Drew Brees or Tom Brady. Which exemplifies why I’ve never taken Riddick seriously.

Nobody played the race card, maybe because it’s tough to see the Steelers’ Black coach playing along with that sort of conspiracy.

• Steelers select Oregon defensive tackle Derrick Harmon in 1st round of NFL Draft • What might the Steelers do on Day 2 of the draft? • Tim Benz: Blissfully boring Steelers pick the right draft to play it straight with Derrick Harmon • First Call: Mel Kiper rips Steelers for passing on Shedeur Sanders; Steelers tied to Kirk Cousins trade reports

The drama heightened when Jaxson Dart went to the New York Giants with the 25th pick. Sanders will be no better than the third quarterback selected.

Somebody tell Kiper that the Steelers weren’t the only team to pass on Sanders. Every team did.

Sanders was once projected as the second pick overall. His drop out of the first round is the draft’s biggest story. (Even bigger than Jacksonville trading up to take two-way Colorado star Travis Hunter with the second pick. He makes his debut with All Elite Wrestling next Wednesday night on TBS.)

Why did Sanders plummet down the draft? Was it fear of interference from daddy Deion? (He was oddly quiet when Shedeur didn’t get picked Friday.) Do coaches fear that Shedeur would listen to his father, not them? Did teams figure out that Shedeur has an average arm and isn’t that good in the first place?

The rubber meets the road Friday night.

Cleveland was once expected to draft Sanders with the second pick overall. The Browns pick first and fourth in the second round. Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett top their depth chart at quarterback. How can the Browns not pick Sanders? Unless they don’t.

Thirty-two players got picked Thursday night. Most of the discussion is about the player who didn’t. That’s how we look at sports in 2025.

What do the Steelers do at quarterback?

Anderson reported the Steelers wanted an answer from Aaron Rodgers 48 hours before the draft and didn’t get one. “So tired, tired of waiting, tired of waiting for you…”

ESPN’s Marcus Spears said any NFL organization waiting on Rodgers is “dumb as a box of rocks.” Who would know better?

More than 200,000 turned out for the draft at Green Bay.

The draft will be in Pittsburgh next year.

I won’t be. I’ll be anywhere else that weekend. Liverpool, Las Vegas, Conneaut Lake, New York City, Atlantic City, anywhere else. (Unless I get a big-money appearance fee to stay. Inquire within.)

Anyway, the Steelers picked Harmon. Huzzah. (Unless his bum shoulder doesn’t heal right.)

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