With 12 total picks, including five in the first three rounds, the Pittsburgh Steelers have the most draft capital in the league. The Steelers can add plenty of valuable depth to their roster or use their capital to vault higher in the first couple of rounds of the draft. ESPN’s Field Yates is in favor of Pittsburgh staying put and utilizing all 12 of its draft picks.
“I think the question is, do you truncate those picks, try to move up and navigate the draft board, or do you try to use all 12 of them? I definitely lean towards the latter. Because, while the Steelers’ defense at its best had brilliant moments this past season, it’s not even sneaky anymore. They’re just getting old,” Yates said Tuesday on ESPN’s NFL Live. “They need to find ways to get a pipeline of talent on the defensive side of the ball, that’s younger… I’m in on building out the depth, rather than just going for three or four difference makers this upcoming draft.”
If the Steelers want to trade up, the first chance would likely be the middle of the first round. While they have capital to sacrifice, trading into the top-10 is always very costly. But if a top prospect, like Caleb Downs or Carnell Tate, falls to the middle of the round, it wouldn’t be as expensive for Pittsburgh to move up.
The beginning of the second round is another chance. Although the Steelers have three third-round picks, they have none between 21st and 53rd overall. Maybe if Ty Simpson, or another prospect they might have considered at 21st overall, falls that far, the Steelers could move up for cheaper than it would have been in the first round.
Yates’ idea of staying put with all of their selections makes some sense. If they take that route, the Steelers can draft five impact players on the first two days. And they’d still enter Day 3 with two picks in the fourth round.
However, so many picks could become a little useless towards the end of the draft. Only so many players can make the roster, and it’s hard to believe all 12 picks would. That doesn’t even consider the undrafted free agents Pittsburgh might look to sign just after the draft, either. Pittsburgh could try to send off some of its 2026 capital for picks in 2027. But it’s unlikely the Steelers would receive any great value there.
If the Steelers want to thrill their home crowd on draft night, they have the ammunition to move up and take a real difference-maker in rounds one or two. But Yates believes it makes more sense to stay put and fill out the roster with that arsenal of picks.
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