C
Pittsburgh Steelers
Ponds should have been long gone. The Steelers pounced, and earned a C.
by PATRICK305 ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 4 steals
· 5 reaches
The value of the weekend has a name and a slot: D'Angelo Ponds, Round 7, Pick 21, roughly 190 picks past where he belonged. For now it grades a C, with the swing picks left to settle the rest.
The cost of the Jefferson reach is exactly the players who went right after him. The Bowry pick is fine in a vacuum, less so with safety, edge rusher and other spots still on the board.
If this class has a fault line, it runs straight through safety. On the needs board they went 6 of 9, with quarterback the one that mattered most.
If Parker Brailsford and a couple of the gambles land, hindsight will be kinder than this grade.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 21 they get a plug-and-play piece up front, though the board says they badly overpaid. More want than need.
Germie Bernard in slot 53 is exactly on the number, no argument either way. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Taylen Green in Round 3, Pick 12 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Hard to square with the roster. With positions of obvious need still on the board, Jude Bowry adds an offensive lineman and leaves safety, edge rusher and other spots untouched.
Daylen Everette in the 121st overall pick should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. The roster fit checks out.
They will replay Kyle Louis at the 135th pick for years; that is how good the value is. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Circle this one: Nicholas Singleton at pick No. 161 is a fall that decides a draft. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Luke Altmyer at pick 224 is a clear overpay, with better names still on the board. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A wild overpay on Jonathan Jefferson in pick No. 230, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
You do not let a cornerback like D'Angelo Ponds reach the Round 7 slot and blink. They did not. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.