Welcome to Stats of the Weird, Pittsburgh Steelers 2026 NFL Draft edition. With the weekend in the books, we’ll spend plenty of time, and already have, analyzing the players drafted. But for a moment, let’s look at the class from the quirks and weird of what made the ’26 class so unique.
– Entering the draft with 12 selections, Pittsburgh drafted 10 players. It’s the team’s largest class since drafting 10 in 2010, one headlined by Florida C Maurkice Pouncey.
The last time the Steelers drafted more than 10 players occurred in 1999 when Pittsburgh drafted 11. The first round pick that year was La Tech WR Troy Edwards.
– Pittsburgh has drafted three offensive linemen, all tackles, in the first round of Omar Khan’s four drafts.
– Over the last two years, 10 of the Steelers 17 draft picks have come from the Big Ten: Derrick Harmon, Kaleb Johnson, Jack Sawyer, Yahya Black, Will Howard, Carson Bruener, Drew Allar, Gennings Dunker, Kaden Wetjen, and Riley Nowakowski. The PAC-12’s collapse has made the Big Ten larger than ever, but it’s still a heavy concentration, given that the SEC had the most selections of any conference this year. Three of Pittsburgh’s picks came from there: Germie Bernard, Daylen Everette, and Robert Spears-Jennings.
– Max Iheanachor is Pittsburgh’s first draft pick from Arizona State since OT Marvel Smith, a second-rounder in 2002. He’s the team’s first 1st rounder since QB Mark Malone in 1980. Fun fact: Hall of Famer John Henry Johnson, a player the Steelers drafted, lost, and then had to close out his career, also attended Arizona State.
– Similarly, Eli Heidenreich is only the second Navy player Pittsburgh’s ever taken. The first came in 1973 via the 16th-round pick, DL Glen Nardi. A Twitter follower saw my post about it and shared that Nardi is his father-in-law and had the nickname “The Tree” in college. Very cool.
– Mike McCarthy has now drafted eight Iowa players over his head coaching career. That’s well more than any other school. Here are the top programs:
Iowa – 8
Alabama – 5
LSU – 5
Oklahoma – 5
Pittsburgh had picks from three of those schools in 2026 alone: Gennings Dunker and Kaden Wetjen from Iowa, Germie Bernard from Alabama, and Spears-Jennings from Oklahoma.
Surprisingly, Daylen Everette was only the second player McCarthy has drafted from Georgia.
– Drew Allar was the first third or fourth round quarterback McCarthy’s ever selected. He’s now selected ones in the second, third, fifth, and seventh rounds. Will 2027 be the year he takes one in the first?
– Since the Steelers moved on from the Single-Wing offense, this is the first time Pittsburgh’s ever drafted a Penn State quarterback or Alabama wide receiver. John Stallworth came “closest,” playing his college ball at Alabama A&M.
– Gabriel Rubio is the first Notre Dame lineman drafted since Stephon Tuitt in 2014.
– Officially, Pittsburgh made a trio of third-round selections: Allar, Everette, and Dunker. It was the first time the Steelers made three picks in the third round since 2009, when the team selected Kraig Urbik, Mike Wallace, and Keenan Lewis. Collectively, will 2026’s group be better or worse?
The last time the Steelers made triple selections in any round occurred in 2019 with a trio of sixth-rounders: Sutton Smith, Isaiah Buggs, and Ulysees Gilbert III.