{"id":176789,"date":"2026-04-26T20:16:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T20:16:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/176789\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T20:16:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T20:16:20","slug":"heres-how-experts-graded-steelers-full-2026-draft-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/176789\/","title":{"rendered":"Here’s How Experts Graded Steelers’ Full 2026 Draft Class"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pittsburgh Steelers have officially wrapped up their 2026 draft class, bringing in 10 rookies along with a wave of undrafted free agents<\/a> to begin the next chapter of their careers in Pittsburgh. It was the first time since 1992 that Pittsburgh entered the draft with at least 12 picks, and the first time since 2010 that they made 10 selections by the end of the event.<\/p>\n

We have been tracking along with expert and analyst draft grades from the start of the event, so now let\u2019s take a look at the various opinions on the Steelers draft class as a whole.<\/p>\n

For a more zoomed-in perspective on the picks, check out draft grades for each day below.<\/p>\n

Day 1<\/a>
Day 2<\/a>
Day 3<\/a><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a quick recap of the draft class:<\/p>\n

\u2013 R1:21 \u2013 OT Max Iheanachor\/Arizona State
\u2013 R2:47 \u2013 WR Germie Bernard\/Alabama
\u2013 R3:76 \u2013 QB Drew Allar\/Penn State
\u2013 R3:85 \u2013 CB Daylen Everette\/Georgia
\u2013 R3:96 \u2013 OG Gennings Dunkers\/Iowa
\u2013 R4:121 \u2013 WR\/RET Kaden Wetjen\/Iowa
\u2013 R5:169 \u2013 FB Riley Nowakowski\/Indiana
\u2013 R6:210 \u2013 DL Gabriel Rubio\/Notre Dame
\u2013 R7:224 \u2013 S Robert Spears-Jennings\/Oklahoma
\u2013 R7:230 \u2013 RB Eli Heidenreich\/Navy<\/p>\n

Mel Kiper Jr. (ESPN)<\/a> \u2014 Final Grade: B<\/p>\n

He gave them worse marks last year after they passed on his beloved Shedeur Sanders, but he actually liked their quarterback plan this time around.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdding Drew Allar\u2014a big, strong-armed passer from down the road at Penn State\u2014in Round 3 was a good hedge, with one eye to the future,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

Quarterback\u2019s draw headlines, so it makes sense to start there, but that was far from the Steelers\u2019 top priority in this class. They bolstered the offensive line, added another weapon to the receiving corps, and plugged other overlooked needs throughout the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe keeps getting better,\u201d Kiper wrote on Iheanachor. \u201cHe\u2019s just scratching the surface of what he can be.\u201d<\/p>\n

He had nothing but good things to say about the class, including the selection of WR\/RET Kaden Wetjen in the fourth round. Some had issue with the value, but Kiper included it in his list of picks before summing up \u201cit was a pretty good few days for the Steelers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chad Reuter (NFL.com)<\/a> \u2014 Final Grade: A-<\/p>\n

With a low of a B+ on Day 2, Reuter averaged out to straight A- grades.<\/p>\n

\u201cMissing out on receiver Makai Lemon could prove to be a blessing in disguise if the physical, quick-footed Iheanachor keeps things intact up front,\u201d Reuter wrote. \u201cAnd Bernerd\u2019s strength, route-running skills and elusiveness after the catch give him a chance to be just as good as Lemon in the long run.\u201d<\/p>\n

People will closely compare the career paths of both Lemon and Iheanachor after what transpired on the first day<\/a> of the event. But perhaps they should instead compare Bernard and Lemon. Is there really\u00a0that big\u00a0of a gap between the two? Only time will tell, but Pittsburgh may have gotten a long-term starter at one of the most premium positions due to the Eagles\u2019 last-second trade to jump them in the order.<\/p>\n

For a late-round steal, Reuter highlighted Robert Spears-Jennings, calling him a \u201ctop-150 value pick.\u201d Pittsburgh somehow got a safety at No. 224 overall who ran a 4.32-second 40-yard dash with 47 games of college experience.<\/p>\n

Pro Football Focus<\/a> \u2014 Final Grade: C+<\/p>\n

PFF\u2019s Wins Above Average<\/a> metric gave the Steelers a 0.984 score for the entire draft, which was ranked 20th out of 32 teams.<\/p>\n

According to their metric, seventh-round RB Eli Heidenreich was the best pick of the event for Pittsburgh with a 92.9 college PFF grade. They had generic pre-written blurbs on each player, but they notably left out Rubio from the analysis. I\u2019m not sure if that was an oversight, or if they just didn\u2019t have him a blurb ready to go for him due to the pick being completely out of left field on most people\u2019s big boards.<\/p>\n

Matt Verderame (SI.com)<\/a> \u2014 Final Grade: C<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh\u2019s draft class was sure to bring mixed opinions, and a lot of that is painted by the optics of wanting Lemon and pivoting to Iheanachor. Verderame\u2019s grades steered heavily into that narrative.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Steelers had an odd draft with their city playing host. Iheanachor is a terrific talent and could be pressed into duty depending on Broderick Jones\u2019s neck injury. Still, it\u2019s well-known they wanted slot receiver Makai Lemon at No. 21 before he was scooped by the Eagles, leading to the Bernard pick on Friday. At Alabama, Bernard amassed 1,656 yards and nine touchdowns over two seasons. Finally, selecting Allar to compete with Will Howard was a luxury selection for a team with far bigger needs. There\u2019s talent here, but also plenty to fret about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bryant McFadden (CBS Sports)<\/a> \u2014 Final Grade: B+<\/p>\n

McFadden called the Steelers one of the draft\u2019s biggest losers after Day 1, but he seems to like the full picture after giving the rest of the draft time to develop.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey faced a lot of criticism when we found out what happened,\u201d McFadden said. \u201cBut then when I look at the board, getting big Max with your first pick, I\u2019m okay with that. Because big Max is gonna be a heck of a ball player.\u201d<\/p>\n

He gave the Bernard pick high marks, and then offered a new way to look at the Steelers\u2019 third round for those with questions about using the top third-round pick on QB Drew Allar.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey had three third-round picks. What if I told you Drew Allar was No. 96 instead of 76, and they got Daylen Everette and Gennings Dunker?\u201d McFadden asked. \u201cThey trust their board instead of doing what the consensus might\u2019ve considered they should do\u2026They got better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just like any draft class, you can play the game of \u201cIf x player works out, this will be a good class.\u201d But consider the upside for the Steelers. What are the most premium positions in today\u2019s game? Quarterback, offensive tackle, wide receiver, edge rusher, and cornerback. Pittsburgh used their first four picks on those premium positions, and then plugged a need at left guard.<\/p>\n

If even half of those first four picks pan out into something good, it will be reflected on as a pretty good draft class.<\/p>\n

He said his favorite pick was CB Daylen Everette. McFadden originally submitted a B grade, but upped it slightly to a B+ after having more time to sit with the picks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pittsburgh Steelers have officially wrapped up their 2026 draft class, bringing in 10 rookies along with a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":176790,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[28298,42063,79029,1421,79030,79031,53953,73,75,74,54619,79032],"class_list":["post-176789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-bryant-mcfadden","tag-cbs-sports","tag-chad-reuter","tag-espn","tag-matt-verderame","tag-mel-kiper-jr","tag-nfl-com","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-pro-football-focus","tag-si-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}