Daylen Everette will have a lot to live up to, if all the talk around him during OTAs and minicamp is anything to go by. Reportedly holding his own against DK Metcalf and intercepting some passes, the rookie third-round pick is getting himself noticed. For a player who seemed earmarked for a redshirt season, it’s not a bad way to begin your rookie offseason.
Largely anonymous in the weeks following the draft, Everette has been a favorite topic for reporters covering practice. Given that it’s come from several different sources, it’s hard not to conclude that he has been rather noticeable. Some even suggest he could compete for the top backup role, which is no small thing.
Once in his position as the young rookie, Joey Porter Jr. has been watching Daylen Everette, too. “He’s been getting a lot of work”, he noted via the Steelers’ website. “He got some good work with DK [Metcalf], which he’s been growing from and learning from. We’re all happy for him. We all know that we’re learning a new defense, so we’re just trying to help him out as much as possible”.
Porter is the Steelers’ unquestioned top cornerback, but they needed help this offseason. Letting James Pierre leave in free agency, they retained Asante Samuel Jr., then signed Jamel Dean. Porter and Dean are the starters, with Jalen Ramsey the presumptive slot defender in nickel packages. But could Everette be the next man up on the outside if Porter or Dean went down?
The Steelers selected Daylen Everette out of Georgia in the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft. While not an obvious immediate need, they saw it necessary to inject young talent into the cornerback room. After all, outside of Porter, they have not had success drafting at the position for years.
Granted, the Steelers also learned over time that they needed to stop drafting cornerbacks early if they couldn’t identify talent properly or develop them. Between 2020 and 2025, they only used one early pick on the position for Porter. Daylen Everette broke that streak, which was sparked by failures on players like Justin Layne, Artie Burns, and Senquez Golson. Cameron Sutton also eventually came into his own, but his post-Steelers career was—um—brief.
Of course, there has been a significant failure to exercise any sense of caution here. Very little is notable at this time of year in terms of practice observations, after all. Especially under Mike McCarthy in his first season as the Steelers’ head coach, the heavy emphasis is on installation. It’s naturally better for Everette to draw positive attention, but training camp could be a different story.
But for now, at least, it’s nice to hear something positive about a Steelers cornerback draft pick. It’s a change of pace in recent years, outside of Porter. And now Everette has Porter as a guide as he traverses the same territory three years later.
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