Steelers NFL Draft winners and losers: Aaron Rodgers sitting pretty; Drew Allar, Will Howard on opposite sides

General manager Omar Khan added some offensive playmakers in the 2026 NFL Draft, but missed out on a key one

Bryan DeArdo

Apr 27, 2026

7:32 pm ET

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9 min read

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Rarely has there been this much disagreement about a draft class as there has been with the Pittsburgh Steelers 2026 draft class. The Steelers either had a terrific or awful draft, depending on who you ask.

While the opinions have been extreme, there are a few things that everyone can agree on. The Steelers added depth on the offensive and defensive lines, got a much-needed receiver to complement DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman Jr. and added another project to the quarterback room.

Pittsburgh also chose not to add depth at inside linebacker, which was something they were expected to do heading into the draft. The Steelers also passed on the chance to add a potential impact player with the 85th overall pick to select a quarterback who may never take a meaningful snap for them.

It should also be noted that the Steelers had one of the draft's most memorable moments when they drafted a Pittsburgh native and longtime Steelers fan in the seventh round (more on that later).

Now that the dust has settled, let's take a look at the Steelers' biggest winners and losers from a draft that won't soon be forgotten in Pittsburgh.

RoundPickPlayerGrade1

No. 21

Max Iheanachor, OT, Arizona State

B+

No. 47 (from Colts)

Germie Bernard, WR, Alabama

A+

No. 76

Drew Allar, QB, Penn State

No. 85

Daylen Everette, CB, Georgia

No. 96 (from Seahawks)

Gennings Dunker, G, Iowa

B-

No. 121

Kaden Wetjen, WR, Iowa

No. 169 (from Chiefs)

Riley Nowakowski, FB, Indiana

No. 210

Gabriel Rubio, DE, Notre Dame

C+

No. 224

Robert Spears, S, Oklahoma

B+

No. 230

Eli Heidenreich, RB/WR, Navy

B+

Winner: Omar Khan

Khan deserves credit for getting off the mat after the Eagles and Cowboys blindsided him when Philadelphia traded picks with Dallas to draft receiver Makai Lemon, whom Khan was on the phone with before the Eagles intervened.

If Philadelphia's move wasn't bad enough, adding insult to injury was the fact that Khan's phone call to Lemon was captured by cameras and quickly released to the public. The scene led to immediate criticism of Khan for lacking the foresight to trade up for Lemon, knowing the Cowboys weren't interested in taking an offensive player with the 20th pick.

To Khan's credit, he made sure that history wouldn't repeat itself on Friday when he traded up six spots to draft wideout Germie Bernard, a player who has been lauded for his versatility and reliability. Before the draft, CBS Sports NFL Draft analyst Ryan Wilson lauded Bernard as possibly the safest pick in this year's draft.

> Alabama WR Germie Bernard is headed to Pittsburgh 😤

Steelers continue to add to a revamped WR room pic.twitter.com/2IpmSY0JlG

— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) April 25, 2026

Khan didn't get Lemon, but in Bernard, he acquired a receiver who might be a better fit for new offensive coordinator Brian Angelichio's offense.

"We're very excited," Angelichio said of the pick of Bernard. "Germie is a tremendous person. I was really impressed with him on his 30 visit. His energy, his character, his makeup, who he is as a person. ... More than anything else, he's a clutch player. He's made a lot of big catches for Alabama in critical moments."

Loser: Roman Wilson

Wilson's lack of production during his first two seasons was among the main reasons why the Steelers needed to draft a receiver in the early rounds. Following a successful career at Michigan, Wilson caught just 12 passes during his first two seasons with Pittsburgh.

Roman Wilson

PIT • WR • #10

TAR21

REC12

REC YDs166

REC TD2

FL1

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While he now has more players to compete with, the good news for Wilson is that -- despite Pittsburgh's new additions at receiver -- the Steelers are still not terribly deep at receiver, which means that he still has a chance to earn a spot on the 53-man roster this summer.

For that to happen, though, Wilson will need to make significant strides, especially when it comes to his consistency.

"Every play is watched from practice, so it's the attention to detail on the routes," Aaron Rodgers said of Wilson during the 2025 season. "I think that's sometimes lost. You might, even in a game situation, get so enamored with what a guy's doing, who's around the ball, getting targeted, but a lot of times things that happen in the succeeding weeks are because of things you've seen on film, on the backside of plays where a guy's not getting the ball, and you see the detail in the craft in the routes.

"The other day, he got the ball on Thursday, on a number of plays and that was positive. But there were some other routes on the backside when he didn't get the ball, where you started to see some of