B+
Pittsburgh Steelers
Good, not great, for the Steelers: B+.
by SteelersDraft ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 11 picks
· 4 steals
· 1 reaches
The tape said wait; the Steelers did not. Deven Eastern went at the 230th overall pick, a good 49 picks before the board was ready. More right than wrong, and a B+ to match.
That is a linebacker worth more than the slot they spent on him, plainly. The Davis pick reads as want over need, and the roster will feel it at edge rusher, running back and other spots. They will regret leaving edge rusher for another day if the season turns on it.
Good work on the whole, with edge rusher the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
Emmanuel Pregnon in pick 40 is fair value, right on his grade. A minor itch, scratched.
A straight-up fair deal on Emmanuel McNeil-Warren at slot 53, value and slot in agreement. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Germie Bernard in pick No. 76 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Somehow Zachariah Branch was still sitting there in the 85th pick, and they pounced on premier wide receiver value. A need, and now a little less of one.
A linebacker of that caliber at the 99th overall pick is the definition of value, full stop. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Value with a capital V on Treydan Stukes in No. 109, a genuine coup. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
A clean, defensible pick in the 121st pick with a little surplus value in Julian Neal. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
They took Harold Perkins Jr. at par in Round 4, Pick 26, which is nothing to complain about. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Hard to square with the roster. With positions of obvious need still on the board, J.C. Davis adds an offensive lineman and leaves edge rusher, running back and other spots untouched.
Drew Allar at the 161st overall pick nudges the ledger their way without any fuss. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Deven Eastern at the Round 7 slot is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.