B-
Pittsburgh Steelers
Larceny in the 99th pick lands the Steelers a B-, Branch and all.
by reottnick ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 12 picks
· 7 steals
· 3 reaches
This is the pick they will still be bragging about in July: Zachariah Branch, the No. 61 name on the board, stolen at Round 3, Pick 35. A dependable weekend that grades out a B-.
The Green reach is the anchor dragging on the value grade. Spending an early pick on offensive lineman with interior defensive lineman and edge rusher open is the decision the grade keeps circling back to.
That interior defensive lineman hole did not close this weekend, and it was the biggest one on the wall.
In short, they left a little better than they arrived, which is the whole idea.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 21 they get a true top target at a price that makes it sweeter. A real need, handled.
They let Emmanuel Pregnon come to them and pounced at pick 53. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
They robbed the room for Emmanuel McNeil-Warren here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A tidy bit of business in pick No. 85, where Jacob Rodriguez graded well above the range. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
A top-tier wide receiver at a bargain, Zachariah Branch in slot 99, plain and simple. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They barely believed it either: Jalon Kilgore still on the board at the 121st overall pick. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Of all the spots to shop, they chose offensive lineman. J.C. Davis in the 135th pick leaves interior defensive lineman and edge rusher for later.
They reached into another round for Taylen Green, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Kendrick Law at pick 216 is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
They liked Robert Henry Jr. enough to skip the value, taking him in slot 224. A need, and now a little less of one.
Miles Kitselman in pick No. 230 lands just on the right side of the ledger. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
The board had cheaper options than Trey Zuhn III at the 237th pick, and it noticed. They doubled down on a strength rather than a need.