B+
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers let Hunter fall into their laps, and walked away with a B+.
by Lamtc4 ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 8 steals
· 0 reaches
The value of the weekend has a name and a slot: Lee Hunter, the Round 3 slot, roughly 37 picks past where he belonged. Good, not great, and the B+ says as much.
They robbed the room blind at the table, and it lifts the grade on its own. They punted on edge rusher, and it is the miss that keeps the grade honest. The imported veterans give this class a floor the draft picks could not on their own.
In short, they left a little better than they arrived, which is the whole idea.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 27 they get a cornerstone up front at fair value. Need was not the driver here.
A wide receiver of that caliber at the Round 2 slot is the definition of value, full stop. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Dillon Thieneman in No. 54 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A top-tier interior defensive lineman at a bargain, Lee Hunter in pick No. 85, plain and simple. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
A tidy bit of business in the 86th pick, where Jacob Rodriguez graded well above the range. It fills a real need, too.
They barely believed it either: Daylen Everette still on the board at slot 99. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Taking Cole Payton in the 216th overall pick is close to grand larceny; a quarterback that good had no business lasting this long. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Value with a capital V on Tyren Montgomery in pick 224, a genuine coup. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Kaden Wetjen slid further than he should have, and the 230th overall pick is lovely value for the wide receiver. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
A straight-up fair deal on Jaydn Ott at pick 237, value and slot in agreement. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.