Much like last year’s alignment at defensive line, the 2026 draft class perfectly lines up with the Pittsburgh Steelers’ biggest need. The wide receiver group is one of the best in recent memory. With 12 picks to spend, Pittsburgh is almost certain to leave the draft with at least two new weapons at the position.
According to NFL Network’s top draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah, there is plenty of value well into the second day of the draft.
“In terms of the second round, there’s wide receivers galore that are gonna be there that are really, really good players,” Jeremiah said in his annual pre-combine conference call with the media. “It’s literally all shapes and sizes.”
When asked to rank the depth among defensive tackles, cornerbacks, and wide receivers—all positions that should interest the Steelers—the WRs took the top spot.
“I would rank that wide receiver, corner, D-tackle in terms of depth. But it’s not in bad shape at defensive tackle. It’s just much deeper at the other two. Wide receiver is really, really good…I think I had 19 guys with grades that would put them in the top three round range. So that’s a really good group of wide receivers.”
The same was true last year at defensive tackle, but that didn’t stop the Steelers from drafting Derrick Harmon in the first round. They dipped back into the deep class with Yahya Black in the fifth round. Pittsburgh could use a similar strategy at WR this year.
Wide receiver is the favorite to be Pittsburgh’s first-round pick, but they can easily land a good WR2 in the second round if they covet someone else at No. 21 overall. With 12 total picks, including five in the first three rounds, Omar Khan has options.
In my first mock draft, I had the Steelers passing on receiver in the first round, but triple-dipping at the position in rounds two, three, and six.
From last season’s 53-man roster, just DK Metcalf, Roman Wilson, and Ben Skowronek are under contract to return. Mike McCarthy’s offense places a larger emphasis on receivers than Arthur Smith did, so they need to acquire at least a few more talents between free agency and the draft.
It’s a good year for that to be the case.
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