OutKick⁠98%

NFL Draft Prospects Continue To Decline To Attend The Event As Appearances Lose Luster ⁠73%

By Dan Zaksheske⁠91%

4/13/2026, 1:30:58 PM

BS Summary: This article contains 31 faulty reasoning types, including Unattributed Quote, Biased Writer Voice, and Halo Effect, with Hasty Generalization as the most egregious example at 28.2% saturation with 180 hits. Analysis detected 1,883 faulty-reasoning hits from 638 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 57.9% and a BS Rank of ⁠73% (7,659 of 27,664 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 72.30% of the article peer group.

Since the NFL decided to stop holding the draft in New York City, fewer and fewer prospects are choosing to attend the event in person. 
In 2015, the league started staging the NFL Draft in locations that are unlikely to ever host a Super Bowl due to their climates, like Cleveland, Kansas City and Green Bay. 
For the 2026 NFL Draft, the league picked Pittsburgh's Acrisure Stadium (formerly Heinz Field, which was a much better name, by the way) and surrounding areas, like Point State Park, as the hosting venue. 
As someone who grew up about 125 miles from Pittsburgh, it's a pretty good city. 
There's a strong passion for the city's sports teams, and it has an excellent blue-collar vibe. 
But it's not exactly a glamorous destination for 21- to 25-year-old NFL Draft prospects. 
Radio City Music Hall in New York City was such a classic venue and there was something about standing on the same stage as some of the best players in league history. 
There was also a strong in-person contingent when the league held the draft in Las Vegas, but I don't think I have to explain why that might have been the case. 
The number of prospects confirmed to attend this year (16) is one fewer than last year in Green Bay and both fall well short of the heyday of the NFL Draft. 
And the absence of the Heisman Trophy and National Championship-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza, the presumptive No. 1 overall pick, is quite notable. 
Interestingly, Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson plans to attend. 
Pittsburgh’s 16 Attendees And What The NFL Prioritizes Now 
Other names include Texas Tech LB David Bailey, Miami (Fla.) 
DE Rueben Bain Jr., LSU DB Mansoor Delane, Ohio State DB Caleb Downs, Auburn DE Keldric Faulk, Tennessee DB Colton Hood, USC WR Makai Lemon, Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love, Miami (Fla.) 
OL Francis Mauigoa, Ohio State DT Kayden McDonald, Alabama T Kadyn Proctor, Ohio State LB Arvell Reese, Ohio State LB Sonny Styles, Ohio State WR Carnell Tate, and Arizona State WR Jordyn Tyson. 
Five of the 16 attendees played at Ohio State, which is about a three-hour drive from Pittsburgh. 
Also, it'll be interesting to see if Bain will attend after the story of a fatal 2024 car crash in which he was the driver surfaced over the weekend. 
While Bain saw the reckless driving citation dismissed, it's possible the distraction could alter his draft night plans. 
Traveling to Kansas City, Cleveland or Detroit isn't much of a destination for a 20-something-year-old just to hear his name called. 
But the league has made its position clear: it views the draft as an event to draw hundreds of thousands of fans, and if that means sacrificing some prospects attending, then so be it. 
They want a "musical festival" atmosphere, and the best places to achieve that goal include cities that don't often get to host major events. 
And appeasing its fans is the only thing the NFL cares about at this point. 
Really, that's all they should care about. 
They abandoned the fans with overt political messaging a few years ago, and it was a disaster. 
No surprise there. 
They've slowly been trying to build it back up, and heading to cities in middle America is a nod to football fans. 
Coastal elites aren't the ones packing NFL stadiums on Sundays. 
And they aren't the ones flocking to the NFL Draft. 
They do show up for the Super Bowl, which has become more of a corporate event for elites than a football game for average fans. 
But that's who makes up the majority of the NFL audience: hard-working middle Americans. 
And you better believe that's who's going to show up in Pittsburgh on April 23. 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 13.6%Dan Zaksheske: 6.1%Outkick: 8.7%Confirmation Bias13.6%This article: 0.0%Dan Zaksheske: 0.8%Outkick: 1.9%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 12.4%Dan Zaksheske: 2.0%Outkick: 5.3%Availability Heuristic12.4%This article: 7.7%Dan Zaksheske: 1.1%Outkick: 2.0%Representativeness Heuristic7.7%This article: 3.4%Dan Zaksheske: 0.5%Outkick: 1.9%Hindsight Bias3.4%This article: 7.2%Dan Zaksheske: 2.1%Outkick: 5.9%Overconfidence Bias7.2%This article: 1.4%Dan Zaksheske: 8.3%Outkick: 12.1%Framing Effect1.4%This article: 0.0%Dan Zaksheske: 0.2%Outkick: 1.0%Loss Aversion0.0%This article: 0.0%Dan Zaksheske: 1.0%Outkick: 1.2%Status Quo Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Dan Zaksheske: 0.2%Outkick: 0.2%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 5.3%Dan Zaksheske: 0.6%Outkick: 4.3%Optimism Bias5.3%This article: 16.5%Dan Zaksheske: 1.1%Outkick: 2.4%Pessimism Bias16.5%This article: 16.8%Dan Zaksheske: 7.7%Outkick: 12.6%Negativity Bias16.8%This article: 3.4%Dan Zaksheske: 2.8%Outkick: 3.1%Self-Serving Bias3.4%This article: 12.5%Dan Zaksheske: 3.4%Outkick: 3.1%Fundamental Attribution Error12.5%This article: 4.5%Dan Zaksheske: 0.3%Outkick: 0.6%Actor-Observer Bias4.5%This article: 7.7%Dan Zaksheske: 2.9%Outkick: 4.9%In-Group Bias7.7%This article: 3.1%Dan Zaksheske: 3.5%Outkick: 2.7%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias3.1%This article: 18.7%Dan Zaksheske: 3.4%Outkick: 5.1%Halo Effect18.7%This article: 0.0%Dan Zaksheske: 0.6%Outkick: 1.3%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Dan Zaksheske: 0.0%Outkick: 0.1%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 4.9%Dan Zaksheske: 0.8%Outkick: 3.4%Recency Bias4.9%This article: 0.0%Dan Zaksheske: 0.4%Outkick: 0.5%Primacy Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Dan Zaksheske: 0.0%Outkick: 0.4%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Dan Zaksheske: 5.5%Outkick: 4.0%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Dan Zaksheske: 2.6%Outkick: 2.0%Straw Man0.0%This article: 3.4%Dan Zaksheske: 3.0%Outkick: 3.5%Appeal to Authority3.4%This article: 7.7%Dan Zaksheske: 2.5%Outkick: 2.3%False Dilemma7.7%This article: 0.0%Dan Zaksheske: 0.7%Outkick: 1.1%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%Dan Zaksheske: 0.1%Outkick: 0.3%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 28.2%Dan Zaksheske: 8.0%Outkick: 11.4%Hasty Generalization28.2%This article: 0.0%Dan Zaksheske: 0.8%Outkick: 1.1%Red Herring0.0%This article: 2.4%Dan Zaksheske: 0.4%Outkick: 2.4%Bandwagon2.4%This article: 2.8%Dan Zaksheske: 4.1%Outkick: 9.8%Appeal to Emotion2.8%This article: 6.4%Dan Zaksheske: 1.8%Outkick: 1.7%Begging the Question6.4%This article: 14.6%Dan Zaksheske: 2.0%Outkick: 2.8%Post Hoc (False Cause)14.6%This article: 0.0%Dan Zaksheske: 0.5%Outkick: 0.3%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 1.1%Dan Zaksheske: 0.9%Outkick: 0.6%Burden of Proof1.1%This article: 0.0%Dan Zaksheske: 0.3%Outkick: 0.3%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 3.9%Dan Zaksheske: 0.2%Outkick: 0.4%Composition/Division3.9%This article: 9.6%Dan Zaksheske: 1.7%Outkick: 4.3%Anecdotal9.6%This article: 0.0%Dan Zaksheske: 0.2%Outkick: 0.4%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 12.9%Dan Zaksheske: 1.4%Outkick: 1.8%Ambiguity (Equivocation)12.9%This article: 0.0%Dan Zaksheske: 0.0%Outkick: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Dan Zaksheske: 0.0%Outkick: 0.2%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Dan Zaksheske: 0.2%Outkick: 0.6%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Dan Zaksheske: 0.2%Outkick: 1.0%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Dan Zaksheske: 0.9%Outkick: 0.7%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 24.9%Dan Zaksheske: 2.3%Outkick: 2.1%Unattributed Quote24.9%This article: 0.0%Dan Zaksheske: 1.5%Outkick: 0.9%Quote-first Misdirection0.0%This article: 24.3%Dan Zaksheske: 18.1%Outkick: 17.7%Biased Writer Voice24.3%This article: 11.1%Dan Zaksheske: 2.1%Outkick: 2.4%Indoctrination11.1%This article: 0.0%Dan Zaksheske: 0.3%Outkick: 0.2%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 2.7%Dan Zaksheske: 4.9%Outkick: 2.2%Politically Right Leaning Bias2.7%This article: 0.0%Dan Zaksheske: 1.2%Outkick: 0.8%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…0.0%

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