B-
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers won the weekend at the trade table. Grade: B-.
by aechean ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 14 picks
· 5 steals
· 7 reaches
The Steelers torched the value chart for Nick Barrett, taking him 47 spots sooner than anyone had him slotted. They moved the roster forward and banked a B- for it.
Every deal seemed to tilt their way, which is not luck. The Haulcy pick is the one they will point to when this weekend is judged. The Lomu pick reads as want over need, and the roster will feel it at edge rusher and tight end.
For all the activity, edge rusher went untouched, which is hard to explain.
Good work on the whole, with edge rusher the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
In the Round 1 slot they get a long-term starter on the line. Need was not the driver here.
Hard to square with the roster. With positions of obvious need still on the board, Caleb Lomu adds an offensive lineman and leaves edge rusher and tight end untouched.
A curious use of the 53rd pick. Edge rusher and tight end needed the pick; an offensive lineman in Emmanuel Pregnon did not.
You do not let a safety like A.J. Haulcy reach the 76th overall pick and blink. They did not. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
A wide receiver of that caliber at No. 85 is the definition of value, full stop. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Harold Perkins Jr. well ahead of where he belonged. A need, and now a little less of one.
The board had Nicholas Singleton higher than slot 121, and the running back fell to them anyway. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
They reached a country mile for Drew Allar at pick No. 135, and the board is aghast. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Nice patience on Charles Demmings, who had no business lasting to the Round 5 slot. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Nick Barrett this early at No. 204. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Isaiah Nwokobia in the 216th overall pick is the kind of reach that only looks good if he outplays it. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Logan Taylor at pick 224 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Robert Spears-Jennings. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They talked themselves into J. Michael Sturdivant at the 237th pick, and the board did not agree. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.