The 2026 NFL Draft is almost here! For three days Pittsburgh will be the focus of the football world as 32 teams make 257 picks unified by a single goal: Building a Super Bowl Champion roster.
The Pittsburgh Steelers stand out, not simply because they’re the host team, but because they have 12 picks at their disposal, more than any other NFL Team.
As our recent review of Steelers draft history reveals, success or failure in the 2026 draft doesn’t hinge on how many picks Omar Khan and Mike McCarthy make, but who they use them on.
With that, let’s take a look at where the Steelers need the most help.
This is the latest article in our Steelers 2026 Draft series.
2026 Steelers Need Tiers Ahead of the Draft
Over the past few weeks, we’ve reviewed each area on the Steelers depth chart and analyzed where they need help both now and in the future. What’s interesting is, if you take a look at the franchise’s needs in totality, the Steelers 2026 draft needs really do fall into three distinct tiers.
At the top you find safety, wide receiver, quarterback and offensive tackle, with safety clocking in at Extreme while Wide out, quarterback and offensive tackle coming in at High.
- Then you’ve got a glut in the middle.
On the defensive side, cornerback, inside linebacker and defensive line all rate as Moderate. And on the offensive side guard and tight end clock in as Moderate.
Below that you have running back, rated as Fair, while center and outside linebacker are Negligible.
So how to make sense of this mess? Well that’s where the Steelers 2026 Draft Needs Matrix comes in.
The Steelers 2026 Draft Needs Matrix
The one and only Steelers 2026 Draft Needs Matrix
Rumor has it that Darnell Savage’s signing will be announced soon. But we’ve heard that since the start of free agency. Ditto Aaron Rodgers. All signs indicate that the Steelers still expect him to sign. But he’s not.
So in both cases sheer numbers indicate that the Steelers need to draft someone this week that they can expect to have on their opening day roster.
For that reason Safety tops wide receiver as the Steelers greatest area of need. They need a body. Wide Receiver comes in next simply because they Steelers need probably need to add two wide outs in this draft as opposed to one quarterback.
Quarterback tops offensive tackle, because they need another person there – having two developmental prospects behind Mason Rudolph isn’t ideal, but you need someone.
Offensive tackle is next because of questions about Broderick Jones and Dylan Cook. Even if both players are viable, they need another tackle plain and simple.
Here is where the needs matrix gets complicated, and there’s a lot to argue as there are many rankings that could go either way. Inside linebacker tops tight end because, although the Steelers have bodies there, they don’t have anyone that stands out as a potential long-term answer other than Payton Wilson, and even he could be challenged.
Darnell Washington dumps Barrett Carter. Photo Credit: Karl Roser, Steelers.com
Tight end comes next, because the Steelers only have one untested backup behind Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington.
Guard takes priority over cornerback because, while the Steelers have two potential starters there they probably need to add another, and could upgrade both.
Cornerback and defensive line are similar. Both have solid depth charts going into the draft. But both could use upgrades and both areas could benefit by drafting future starters. But there’s more youth on defensive line than at corner, so cornerback is considered a greater area of need.
At the bottom we have running back over center, because the Steelers have two NFL starter caliber players and one developmental prospect, but this is a high-attrition position. But this one could go either way.
T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig. Photo Credit: Karl Roser, Steelers.com
Finally you have center over outside linebacker, because you’d want Nick Herbig or Jack Sawyer going in for Alex Highsmith or T.J. Watt before you’d want to see Ryan McCollum going in Zach Fraizer.
Warning Against Drafting for Need
The purpose of the Steelers 2026 Draft Needs Matrix is anything but a suggestion that the Steelers should draft for need. Quite to the contrary.
With the exception of perhaps safety and to a lesser extent wide receiver, the Steelers have positioned themselves in free agency so that they don’t have to draft for need. Contrast this with the 2016 NFL Draft when the Steelers, for all intents and purposes, needed to draft a cornerback with a premium pick and ended up reaching for Artie Burns.
Paying homage to Franco, Cam Heyward leads Steelers out of tunnel. Photo Credit: Karl Roser, Steelers.com
All of which is to say, if the Steelers find themselves with the chance to draft an ass-kicking defensive lineman who can become Cam Heyward’s heir apparent, by all means they should take him.
- The same logic applies at almost every position, even those with rated as higher areas of need.
If a game-changing safety falls to them in the first round, they don’t need to pass on him just because they have to add a wide receiver. With 5 picks in the top 100, Omar Khan and Mike McCarthy have the luxury of sticking to their board.
When in doubt and they have two players at different positions rated equally, then the Steelers Draft Needs Matrix should tip the scales.
Let’s hope they do, and let’s extend our congratulations in advance to 257 young men whose dreams will come true between now and Saturday.
