{"id":160303,"date":"2026-04-08T10:06:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T10:06:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/160303\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T10:06:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T10:06:20","slug":"top-prospect-blows-off-2026-nfl-draft-in-pittsburgh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/160303\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Prospect Blows Off 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh"},"content":{"rendered":"

2026 NFL Draft<\/a>\u2022Steelers News<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"PittsburghFernando Mendoza, Indiana\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh will not have one key component to it, as projected No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza has informed the NFL that he is not planning to attend the draft in Pittsburgh this month, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The last time a No. 1 overall pick QB did not attend the NFL Draft was in 2021<\/a>, when the Jacksonville Jaguars selected Trevor Lawrence.<\/p>\n

Schefter notes that Mendoza wants to share the draft experience with his family in Miami.<\/p>\n

Mendoza, who won a national championship in his first season at Indiana after transferring from California, completed 273 of 379 pass attempts (72.%) for 3,535 yards and 41 touchdowns with just six interceptions this past season. Along with winning a national title, he also won the Heisman Trophy for his standout season in 2025. <\/p>\n

Typically 15-20 prospects are invited by the NFL to attend the draft in person. Ohio State star wide receiver Carnell Tate confirmed at his pro day that he will will be in attendance for the draft in the Steel City. <\/p>\n

Mendoza is the biggest face of this year\u2019s draft, however. Not having the presumable future Las Vegas Raider at the draft is a big blow to the excitement of the event. <\/p>\n

\"PittsburghIndiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza in a game against Penn State on Nov. 8, 2025. \u2014 Matthew Lynch \/ Nittany Sports Now<\/p>\n

In late March, a more detailed map<\/a> of the 2026 NFL Draft campus in Pittsburgh was released by Andrew Stockey of WTAE<\/a>. The NFL Draft Experience will be on both sides of the Allegheny River. The Draft Theater and Main Stage will be located just outside Acrisure Stadium on Pittsburgh\u2019s North Shore.<\/p>\n

The NFL Red Carpet arrival for the draft invitees will be at Point State Park.<\/p>\n

The 2026 NFL Draft will take place April 23\u201325, 2026, welcoming 500,000 to 700,000 fans to Pittsburgh. VisitPittsburgh expects the draft to be the biggest event in the city of Pittsburgh\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe layout of the 2026 NFL Draft campus is intentionally designed to celebrate Pittsburgh\u2019s sense of place,\u201d said Jerad Bachar, President & CEO of VisitPITTSBURGH. \u201cFrom the North Shore to Point State Park, across the Roberto Clemente Bridge and along the rivers, this Draft will showcase our city\u2019s character, connectivity, and hospitality in a way only Pittsburgh can.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the first time since December of 1947, the city of Pittsburgh will host the NFL Draft.<\/p>\n

The draft will provide an astronomical economic boost to the city of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. Detroit hosted the 2024 NFL Draft, and saw an estimated $160 million economic windfall<\/a> from doing so, while setting an all-time attendance record, with over 775,000 people visiting the Motor City<\/a> for the three-day event in April.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMentioned In This Article: 2026 NFL Draft<\/a> Fernando Mendoza<\/a> Indiana Hoosiers<\/a> Las Vegas Raiders<\/a> Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> Steelers<\/a> Steelers News<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"2026 NFL Draft\u2022Steelers News Fernando Mendoza, Indiana The 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh will not have one key…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":160304,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[31803,72411,20105,6548,73,75,74,1833,1829,22891],"class_list":{"0":"post-160303","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh","8":"tag-2026-nfl-draft","9":"tag-fernando-mendoza","10":"tag-indiana-hoosiers","11":"tag-las-vegas-raiders","12":"tag-pittsburgh","13":"tag-pittsburgh-headlines","14":"tag-pittsburgh-news","15":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","16":"tag-steelers","17":"tag-steelers-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160303\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}