The Pittsburgh Steelers lead the NFL with 12 selections in the 2026 NFL Draft, but there’s no guarantee the team will use all 12. It’s hard to keep 12 rookies on a roster, but head coach Mike McCarthy wants the Steelers to be close to that number. During a pre-draft press conference today, McCarthy said his team-building philosophy leads him to want the Steelers to make double-digit selections.
“I believe in draft and develop. I think that’s the bloodline of how you grow your roster. I love the roster that’s in place here. I think we have a very good mix of younger players and established veterans. And then to add a full draft class and obviously being above 10, I think would be awesome,” McCarthy said via the team’s YouTube channel. “You know, personally, I’ve always felt that the more players you have to develop, particularly younger players, I think it definitely is for the long term is a good process. And it’s frankly, my 18-year head coaching career speaks to that.”
Omar Khan gave his standard answer about all options being on the table when it comes to moving up or down the draft board, but it sure sounds like McCarthy wants a robust rookie class for his first year in Pittsburgh. There are pros and cons to having a large class. If it pans out, then the Steelers will have plenty of affordable talent that can help form the team’s core for the next handful of seasons. But it’s not going to be easy to fit 10+ rookies onto the roster, and waiving players to try and sneak them on the practice squad leaves the chance that the Steelers lose them for nothing.
The latter issue isn’t really as much of an issue, though, as the former can be much more of a benefit. More picks mean more opportunities to hit on talent, particularly when it comes to later-round talent. Having cheap young talent is the easiest way to build a roster that’s capable of making a deep postseason run. However, the one issue is that the Steelers have 12 picks in a draft that’s considered to lack blue-chip talent and also lacks depth in the later rounds.
It can be harder to justify making 12 picks in a weaker class if the Steelers view it as the consensus does. But the bottom line is that McCarthy wants to use a lot of picks, and the Steelers can bolster their depth if they do. It might lead to more camp battles than usual, and it could lead to a surprise cut or two come August, but it’s a strategy the Steelers just might employ.