With his height, length and physical style of play, cornerback Daylen Everette made a ton of sense as a potential Pittsburgh Steelers target throughout the pre-draft process.
So, it was no surprise when the Steelers selected the Georgia product in the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft as the Steelers continued to address a major position of need.
Despite being a Day 2 pick, the expectation was that Everette needed time to develop and clean up some bad habits from his time with the Bulldogs. But during Organized Team Activities and minicamp, Everette saw a ton of snaps with the first-team defense and matched up against the Steelers’ top receivers as fellow corner Joey Porter Jr. limited himself in search of a contract extension.
Everette took advantage of those valuable offseason reps and generated a ton of buzz. For ESPN’s Brooke Pryor, Everette was the Steelers’ biggest surprise in an offseason that saw a number of new faces join the franchise.
“Everette, one of the Steelers’ three third-round draft picks, turned heads with a larger-than-expected role in minicamp, as cornerback Joey Porter Jr. limited his participation as he awaits a contract extension,” Pryor writes. “The player out of Georgia held his own as he battled with wide receiver DK Metcalf and got his hands on several passes.”
Everette entered the NFL as an experienced corner, having played 55 games at Georgia across four seasons. Getting his hands on footballs in coverage isn’t anything surprising, either, considering he had five interceptions and 19 pass breakups during his tenure in Athens.
Doing so quickly in the NFL while in coverage against the likes of Metcalf and Michael Pittman Jr. is a great sign though and shows that Everette has hit the ground running in his transition to the pros.
The Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac previously highlighted Everette as the most impressive rookie at OTAs, so it’s no surprise that the positive attention continues with Pryor highlighting him too.
How much he’ll actually play this season behind the likes of Porter, Jamel Dean and Asante Samuel Jr. remains to be seen, but the fact he’s put himself in position to see the field as a rookie at a demanding position is a credit to him. The future appears bright.
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