Steelers annual draft review thread. 2026

Here is my annual who I would have taken thread. If you care to play along, and don't live in a glass house and throw stones, you are welcome to add in who you would have taken. The rules are you can only take a player on the board in a given round. You can only pick where the Steelers actually select in a given round.

Having said that here is who I would have taken.

Round one.

Steelers selected OT Iheanachor

I would have taken DT McDonald. A dominant 0-technique prospect and elite run defender. He recorded a 92.0 PFF run-defense grade in 2025 and is a powerful force in the middle. No -- that is not accurate. He is a beast.

Grade for need at the position. B-
Grade for value in the round C+. Most see him as a reach.

The Steelers blew it, being ready to take another player ( a WR ) who was on the phone only to pass on trading down and settling on Max. While he is a skilled pass protector who only gave up 3 sacks in 32 games. vs. competition below average competition, he also has small hands ( 9 " ) , is a so-so run blocker ( not a powerblock blocker ) and grew up in Africa and did not play football until College! He played RT, not LT for 30 of 32 games! He is football raw and played on a weak schedule. He projects a finesse tackle with so-so strength and IMO will struggle a bit as a run blocker. He was flagged 16 times. RED FLAG. He did come on late and had a good week of senior bowl practices. IMO , he will not be ready to start in 2026 and will only do so due to injury. The Steelers didn't even bring him in for a live interview! The process and thinking of this pick ...

Projected grade in the years. C+



Round two Steelers selected WR Bernard.

I would have taken CB/S Scott: A playmaker with sub-4.4 speed who is reliable in deep coverage and impactful against the run. He scored twice last year and forced two fumbles.

Grade for need at the position. B+
Grade for value in round B.

Benard is a solid #3 WR with upside to develop into a #2 WR. He has good versatility, runs good routes, has good height , good hands, and can be used both inside the hash mark and outside, He is close to NFL ready. The major drawback is that he is not fast or explosive nor is he a good deep receiver on 3rd a 10. But he is a chain mover in the short to mid range. His floor is high. The Steeler surrendered our 4th round to trade up 6 slots in round two to get him.

Projected grade in 3 years. B-



Round 3A Steeler select QB Allar.

I would have taken the same player! Allar is a QB with an NFL upside and a high ceiling.
Grade for need at the position. A
Grade for value in the round B+


A big QB who is tall, solidly built. and possess an arm that screams velocity. Allar regressed due to a bad OC / coaching and limited receiving options, struggling on reads and accuracy regressing from 66.5% completions to 62.9% completions. A good runner on Qb sneaks and up short yardage in general. I see him as a good deep passer due to his arm strength, and a player that can really drill the 5,6,7, 8, and 9 routes! An ideal play action Qb. Can a good OC / Head coach ( Mike McCarthy who has an excellent record with developing QB ) develop Allar into a top 16 NFL QB?! Well he has the right coach and tools. This is a swing at a high fast ball not at a pitch in the dirt. As such he is worth the gamble

Projected grade in three years. Grade B. A solid NFL starter at quarterback .





Round 3B

Steelers select CB Everrett

I would have taken WR C Bell. He is a big WR who exceels over the middle on comeback routes where he can use his size ( 6'2 220 bs ) . He is fairly fast ( 4.44 ) for his size and has a huge hands with a low drop rate in 2025. An ideal WR #3.


Grade for need at the position B
Grade for value in the round. B-

Everrett is a big CB, but not very productive ( just one interception and makes few solo tackles, just 23 in 12 games ) He can be our CB #3 or #4 cb and will offer good zone and deep coverage. He is not a good short to medium man coverge guy as he does not stick to guys well on cuts. Nor is his run defense good.

Project grade in three years C. A reserve DB.



Round 3C

Steelers Select G Dunker.

I would have tean the same player!
Grade for need at the position A
Grade for value in the round A-

Dunker is a former RT ideally suited for guard for guard. He gave up 2 sacks last year. His length for a guard is good. As such he should be competent vs. the pass in the pro's. Where he really stands out is in the run game as an inline blocker. Root out a DT's he can. Combo block he can. Open holes for our RB's he will. I love the pick! The need for a guard is great and he is a good bet to some time during his rookie year!

Projected grade in three years. B. A starting guard.


Form here I will simply list who the Steelers selected and I would have taken:


Steelers select.

4 121 Kaden Wetjen WR Iowa - A small retrun man / gadget type of player
5 169 Riley Nowakowski TE Indiana - A FB type, not a bad pick.
6 210 Gabriel Rubio DT Notre Dame - He was not even on 95% of draft boards!
7 224 Robert Spears-Jennings S Oklahoma - Not a bad pick given the round.
7 230 Eli Heidenreich RB Navy - A "Rudy " type of Rb. Not a bad pick.




Who I would have taken:

Round 4 CB Neal - Look at this man's production! A big corner ( 6'2 ), who can defend the pass ( 10 pass breakups ) and jump extremely high. Neal is ideal as a zone coverge man. His run support is excellent.


Round 4B FB Breedson * Pick traded away. He's built for collision and has a thick body and huge neck / jaw. He was the best run blocking FB in the draft.

Round 5 S Kilgore - A productive safety.

Round 6 LB Obiazo - A good cover and chase type of LB.

Round 7A KR / WR Burks - A bazling fast slot WR, who can be tough cover and can jump.

Round 7B 7 RB Heidenreich - Same player the Steelers selected.

I have a lot to do and time is my time booked this week, so I reserve the right to edit this!

 

Nice thorough analysis but one minor correction: you should have stated this was your "1st Annual Draft Review Thread". After all, you didn't join TSF Board until 4 months after last year's draft. Just saying.

 

The Steelers coaches have a lot of work ahead of them….

 

I have been doing my annual draft reviews for years. They are on boards that are defunct / went through some changes. It is however my first review at this site which I now call home. So you are correct in the sense.

To all who wish to see who I would have taken in the past, I have many of my annual draft reviews archived.

 

Unless your a ex NFL Gm, or a pro scout I'm not really interested in who you would have taken.....not trying to be rude just honest

 

I bet Dunker is going to have a cult following in Pittsburgh. I can already see fans in the stadium wearing red-haired mullet wigs.

 

Dunker was in my mock target mock drafts ( I picked three players per round ) in early April in round three. I picked McDonald my #2 choice in round one, and Allar my #3 choice in round three as well. I wanted QB Simpson in round one, but he was off the board early.

I am very happy with Allar. He won't be ready to start the season, and needs to work on his footwork and 2nd reads, but he has several games to get ready as Rodgers will likely return in 2026. The tools and brains he has. The coaching he will get and the Receivers at Pittsburgh are significantly better than want had at Penn State.

Dunker is close to plug and play ready! I love his personality already and IMO his game reminds me a bit of another Big Red, Alan Faneca.

 

I would have liked Thieneman in the 1st. Also would have liked Brazzell in the third. I'm getting more comfortable with the Germie Bernard pick but would have preferred DT in the 2nd. Allar, Wetjen, and Nowakowski were wasted picks IMO. I do like the Dunker pick. Picking Drew Allar in the 3rd was just straight up stupid.

 

And here's the real story. I think we can all agree that "project" picks who were drafted still needing a lot of development have not panned out very well over the last 5-10 years or so. There's been evidence to back that up, and I don't think a lot of players who have outplayed their scouting reports.

New staff, hopefully new results, but at this point we really don't know. Think about the number of projects this staff will be working with:

This draft - Max, Allar, Dunker
Last draft - KJ, Howard as well as Harmon and Black
Others - Roman, any current tackle, the two ILBs

This is probably where the make or break of this team's future lies.

 

Plus a few current ones.

 

No way could the Steelers wait until the third round to draft a WR, that was their biggest need and Bell tore his ACL late last season.

 

By adding a very solid #2 WR in Pittman and having Roman Wilson who will look like a different player under McCarthy, I think WR is not a HUGE need.

We need a 4th man or a 3rd if Wilson does not develop. A 3rd or 4th WR is never a pressing need.

While I respect Mike McCarthy's offensive wisdom, the Steelers have plenty of receiving options at TE and RB too.


Injuries happen in football. The key for draft eligible players is did they recover. Unless a guy is on his 2nd or 3rd ACL tear it is no red flag

There have been over 300 ACL tears occurred between 2015–2019, with roughly 50-60+ happening annually. It's just part of the game.

An ACL rear is not the worst thing that can happen to a knee. An MCL tear is worse, and a knee dislocation ( 3 or 4 ligaments torn ) is serious business.

They are part of football, and the doctor and training staff in the NFL are experts at healing them.

 

I'm a little bit disappointed we only drafted one mullet this year.

 

If WR wasn't a pressing need, then how come they were about to draft Lemon in the first round.

 

Did you mean you would have taken Keionte Scott instead of Bernard in the second round? Given that we have the benefit of hindsight, that doesn't make much sense. Scott fell all the way to the fourth round. The Steelers had three more shots at him in the third round.

Don't get me wrong. I think they should have taken Scott. I think even if they were dead set on the Allar pick, they should have taken Pregnon with their second pick in the third round and Scott with their third pick in that round. Those would have been much better values than Everette and Dunker.

 

I agree with you regarding Thieneman. I have already written too many times that they should have taken him in the first round.

I also hate the Wetjen pick, but I disagree regarding Nowakowski. They needed a fullback to do what McCarthy wants to do on offense and he fits that role.

 

We may be the only two people on this board who still have faith in Roman

 

LoL. It is kinda rude.

 

I got faith in him. As I've said before. It's all about the Qbs, what they see, how they see it, and whom they trust. Anybody that has played, or watch football has seen when a different Qb comes in how targets to other guys go up, and targets to others go down. Hell for the new to football the 3 years before last year should have shown them that. Each Qb we played targeted different routes, and players.

 

Interested enough to come by, read what he had to say and post against this thread.

Something is amiss. You might want to re-evaluate what actually interests you versus what you think interests you.

 

I also wanted Thieneman, but I think Wetjen, and Nowakowski are good picks for where they were picked.

 

I am getting tired of hearing Max is a project. He has been a top-level, productive college OT for several years. He isn't someone that started playing in 2025 or who looked lost on tape but has the "measurables".
He should be able to start on day one. Yes, the best of the best edge rushers will beat him here and there his rookie year. They also beat saavy veterans, its why they're the best.

Fautanu is a more natural LT, so this should work VERY well. Move him to left, start Max and the line, obviously should end up Fautanu, Dunker, Frazier, McCormick, Iheanachor.

Obviously the veteran OG they signed this winter could start initially instead of Dunker.

Swing tackle may start first few games instead of Iheanachor, but I'd doubt it.

NEITHER are projects. Dunker played LG in past and will have two months to get comfortable which sould be more than enough. Is he better now than a veteran, maybe, maybe not, but NEITHER are "projects".

You don't have to keep repeating what someone casually tosses into their analysis in order to find a con to the pro.

Every draft pick needs work and will have to adapt to a new scheme and terminology.