B-
Pittsburgh Steelers
A solid, sensible weekend for the Steelers: B-.
by BurghCave ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 14 picks
· 5 steals
· 7 reaches
It is the swing that defines the weekend: Haynes King in the 237th pick, a good 78 spots before the room expected him. They moved the roster forward and banked a B- for it.
That is a wide receiver worth more than the slot they spent on him, plainly. That edge rusher hole did not close this weekend, and it was the biggest one on the wall. The dealing nudged the ledger their way without much fuss.
The offense got the lion's share of the attention.
A competent weekend that does not make headlines and does not need to.
Pick-by-Pick
In the Round 1 slot they get a blindside protector. Need was not the driver here.
A premium they did not need to pay, Germie Bernard a notch or two before his time. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
A conviction pick on Kyle Louis at No. 76 that the board grades a round light. A need, and now a little less of one.
You do not let a cornerback like Keionte Scott reach slot 85 and blink. They did not. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Michael Taaffe at pick 86 is the proof. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Ted Hurst slid further than he should have, and pick No. 99 is lovely value for the wide receiver. The roster fit checks out.
They liked DeMonte Capehart enough to skip the value, taking him in the 121st pick. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Demond Claiborne in pick 135, miles early. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Travis Burke at pick No. 161 jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.
By-the-book stuff, Dallen Bentley at Round 6, Pick 23 squarely in line with his ranking. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
A quiet steal in No. 216: VJ Payne for less than the market said. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They will replay Jeff Caldwell at the Round 7 slot for years; that is how good the value is. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Jack Kelly at the 230th overall pick is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. It fills a real need, too.
A real head-scratcher, Haynes King in slot 237 is miles ahead of his ranking. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.