B
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers let Haulcy fall and pounced. Final grade: B.
by SteelersDraft ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 14 picks
· 7 steals
· 3 reaches
The value of the weekend has a name and a slot: A.J. Haulcy, the Round 3 slot, roughly 35 picks past where he belonged.
They are betting Willis proves the room right and everyone else wrong. The World pick reads as want over need, and the roster will feel it at linebacker and running back.
They punted on linebacker, and it is the miss that keeps the grade honest. They squeezed a little extra out of every move they made.
Good work on the whole, with linebacker the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 26 they get a home-run threat at receiver, even if it was a touch early.
They paid sticker price for Chase Bisontis in No. 53, and that is fine. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
Value with a capital V on Christen Miller in pick 76, a genuine coup. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Circle this one: A.J. Haulcy at the Round 3 slot is a fall that decides a draft. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
They will replay Jake Golday at the 91st overall pick for years; that is how good the value is. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Treydan Stukes in pick No. 99 is a gift, value that borders on unfair. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Julian Neal in slot 121 is fair value, right on his grade. The roster fit checks out.
A curious use of the 135th pick. Linebacker and running back needed the pick; an offensive lineman in Isaiah World did not.
A clean, defensible pick in No. 161 with a little surplus value in Drew Allar. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Somehow Jeff Caldwell was still sitting there in Round 6, Pick 35, and they pounced on premier wide receiver value. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Nice patience on Dallen Bentley, who had no business lasting to the 220th pick. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
They barely believed it either: Eric McAlister still on the board at the Round 7 slot. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
A market-rate cornerback, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Thaddeus Dixon. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Carver Willis in pick No. 237 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. Insurance at a position that did not really ask for it.