Welcome to Stats of the Weird, Pittsburgh Steelers 2026 NFL Draft edition. With the weekend in the books, we\u2019ll spend plenty of time, and already have, analyzing the players drafted. But for a moment, let\u2019s look at the class from the quirks and weird of what made the \u201926 class so unique.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Entering the draft with 12 selections, Pittsburgh drafted 10 players. It\u2019s the team\u2019s largest class since drafting 10 in 2010, one headlined by Florida C Maurkice Pouncey.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Pittsburgh has drafted three offensive linemen, all tackles, in the first round of Omar Khan\u2019s four drafts.<\/p>\n
\u2013 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\u2019s collapse has made the Big Ten larger than ever, but it\u2019s still a heavy concentration, given that the SEC had the most selections of any conference this year. Three of Pittsburgh\u2019s picks came from there: Germie Bernard, Daylen Everette, and Robert Spears-Jennings.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Max Iheanachor is Pittsburgh\u2019s first draft pick from Arizona State since OT Marvel Smith, a second-rounder in 2002. He\u2019s the team\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Similarly, Eli Heidenreich is only the second Navy player Pittsburgh\u2019s ever taken. The first came in 1973 via the 16th-round pick, DL Glen Nardi. A Twitter follower saw my post about it<\/a> and shared that Nardi is his father-in-law and had the nickname \u201cThe Tree\u201d in college. Very cool.<\/p>\n \u2013 Mike McCarthy has now drafted eight Iowa players over his head coaching career. That\u2019s well more than any other school. Here are the top programs:<\/p>\n Iowa \u2013 8 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.<\/p>\n Surprisingly, Daylen Everette was only the second player McCarthy has drafted from Georgia.<\/p>\n
Alabama \u2013 5
LSU \u2013 5
Oklahoma \u2013 5<\/p>\n