B-
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers checked most of the boxes and earned a B-.
by Jdj029 ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 12 picks
· 3 steals
· 5 reaches
The Steelers bet big and early on Aamil Wagner, 38 picks ahead of the board. Bold does not always mean right. More right than wrong, and a B- to match.
Spending an early pick on offensive lineman with quarterback, edge rusher and other spots open is the decision the grade keeps circling back to. They covered a lot of ground and still skipped quarterback, which is a strange place to end up. They banked enough surplus on Reese to cover a lot of smaller sins.
All told, a draft that does its job without fuss, and there is real value in that.
Pick-by-Pick
Arvell Reese at pick No. 21 is money in the bank, a linebacker taken below his worth. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
A slide stopped in pick 53, with Emmanuel Pregnon worth more than the price. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
Antonio Williams is a better player than Round 3, Pick 12 suggests; smart patience, rewarded. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Treydan Stukes at slot 99 is a sound buy, the sort that quietly helps a class. A need, and now a little less of one.
A tidy little value on Darrell Jackson Jr. in the Round 4 slot, a step better than break-even. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Chris McClellan at the 121st pick is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
The needs board was loud and they turned it down, spending the 135th pick on Aamil Wagner with quarterback, edge rusher and other spots unsolved.
They reached a country mile for Ephesians Prysock at No. 161, and the board is aghast. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
A reach on Zavion Thomas in Round 6, Pick 35; the board had better options right there. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
A straight-up fair deal on Robert Spears-Jennings at the Round 7 slot, value and slot in agreement. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Miles Kitselman in slot 230 lands just on the right side of the ledger. It fills a real need, too.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Isaiah Jatta well ahead of where he belonged. A want more than a need, though you can never have too many.