{"id":622330,"date":"2026-04-23T02:06:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T02:06:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/622330\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T02:06:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T02:06:14","slug":"steelers-2026-nfl-draft-picks-by-round-biggest-needs-best-fits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/622330\/","title":{"rendered":"Steelers 2026 NFL Draft: Picks by round, biggest needs, best fits"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2026 NFL Draft<\/a> kicks off live from Pittsburgh on Thursday, April 23 and the latest crop of rookies will be hearing their names called all weekend long. For the Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a>, the biggest need is an obvious one: Quarterback.<\/p>\n

All signs indicate 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers will return to Pittsburgh for his 22nd NFL season. The Steelers haven’t had a long-term solution at QB since Ben Roethlisberger. However, Pittsburgh might not fill its quarterback need until next year’s draft. Mason Rudolph and Will Howard are in line to back up Rodgers again.<\/p>\n

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MORE: Biggest need for every team entering 2026 NFL Draft<\/a><\/p>\n

Here’s everything you need to know about the Pittsburgh Steelers for this year’s draft, including a round-by-round look at picks and a potential trade candidate already on the roster.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh Steelers NFL Draft best prospect fit: CB D’Angelo Ponds, Indiana<\/p>\n

Per USA TODAY’s Ayrton Ostly:<\/p>\n

Ponds is undersized but tested as one of the most athletic cornerbacks at the NFL combine. At 5-foot-9 and 182 pounds, he could be a force in the slot for the Steelers’ defense. Joey Porter Jr. and Jamel Dean look set on the outside. Ponds could thrive at the nickel alongside those two in an improved secondary. <\/p>\n

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NFL DRAFT: Finding the perfect prospect for every team<\/a><\/p>\n

Pittsburgh Steelers NFL Draft trade candidate: LB Patrick Queen<\/p>\n

Per USA TODAY’s Jack McKessy: <\/p>\n

Queen’s 2025 follow-up to a 2024 Pro Bowl season was disappointing. The veteran linebacker set a career high in missed tackles while seeing his performance in pass coverage decline as well. As Queen enters his walk year in 2026, Pittsburgh could seek out a team looking to improve its linebacker corps and give the veteran a change of scenery before hitting free agency. The Steelers could use the extra draft capital to keep improving their offense after a shaky 2025 season. <\/p>\n

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MORE: One player for all 32 teams who could be traded during the NFL draft<\/a><\/p>\n

Pittsburgh Steelers NFL Draft Picks by round<\/p>\n

Round 1 <\/p>\n

Round 2 <\/p>\n

Round 3 <\/p>\n

No. 76 (3.12) from Cowboys<\/p>\n

No. 99 (3.35) Compensatory pick<\/p>\n

Round 4 <\/p>\n

No. 135 (4.35) Compensatory pick<\/p>\n

Round 5 <\/p>\n

Round 6 <\/p>\n

No. 216 (6.35) Compensatory pick<\/p>\n

Round 7 <\/p>\n

No. 224 (7.8) from Saints via Patriots<\/p>\n

No. 230 (7.14) from Colts<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pittsburgh Steelers 2026 NFL Draft: Picks, team needs, trade candidates<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 NFL Draft kicks off live from Pittsburgh on Thursday, April 23 and the latest crop of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":622331,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[515,1754,12660,49,48,13276,3156,514,86092,13269,4847,949,13274,82,3159],"class_list":["post-622330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-2026-nfl-draft","tag-aaron-rodgers","tag-ben-roethlisberger","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-colts","tag-mason-rudolph","tag-nfl","tag-patrick-queen","tag-patriots","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-saints","tag-sports","tag-will-howard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=622330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/622331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=622330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=622330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=622330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}