The Pittsburgh Steelers entered the 2025 NFL Draft with the third-lowest draft pick value because of their second-round pick that was traded to acquire WR DK Metcalf. How do you close that gap and still make sure to have an impactful class despite the lost value? The Steelers’ strong emphasis on drafting the best players available helped.
According to Warren Sharp Football Analysis, the Steelers had the eighth-best draft based on value. His model took the sum total of the differentials between a player’s projected draft position and where the Steelers actually took them.
the Steelers had the #8 best draft based on value
but if you focus on what they did with higher value draft picks…
the Steelers ranked #6 in draft value thru the first five rounds
RB Kaleb Johnson at No. 83 when he was projected No. 54 and EDGE Jack Sawyer at No. 123 when he… pic.twitter.com/QljoU7Lut8
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) April 27, 2025
Here is the full breakdown according to Sharp’s model in order of value.
| Player | Actual | Expected | Differential |
| Will Howard | 185 | 116 | 69 |
| Jack Sawyer | 123 | 65 | 58 |
| Kaleb Johnson | 83 | 54 | 29 |
| Derrick Harmon | 21 | 28 | -7 |
| Yahya Black | 164 | 222 | -58 |
| Carson Bruener | 226 | 294 | -68 |
| Donte Kent | 229 | 300 | -71 |
Of the Steelers’ first five picks, the majority of them were good or even excellent value. Johnson was drafted nearly a full round later than expected while Sawyer and Howard were drafted nearly two full rounds later than expected. There is more weight on higher picks, which is why the Steelers graded out so well in this model.
Even better, they managed to mostly focus those good value picks at positions of need. Jack Sawyer was the only luxury pick, but sometimes the value is too good to pass up on. This class married need with value really well.
Ahead of the Steelers in reverse order from seven to one were the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Kansas City Chiefs, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, Arizona Cardinals, Cleveland Browns and Atlanta Falcons. The Browns’ total was largely propped up by drafting Shedeur Sanders in the fifth round.
It’s difficult to assign meaningful grades so soon after the event, but the experts seem to all share a pretty favorable opinion of Omar Khan’s third draft class as the Steelers’ GM.
