On the heels of the 2025 NFL draft, another draft with several value picks for the Pittsburgh Steelers, I was left with a question. How did their perceived “steals” (getting players later than many expected) stack up to the rest of the NFL?
So, the goal of this article was to come up with a number I’ll call “pick value.” I used the average of Steelers Depot Draft Grades, NFL Mock Draft Database’s Big Board (MDD), with personal grades breaking any ties. Then I took each player’s actual pick number and subtracted their ranking to get the pick value number.
The final result I will present is the average of each team’s entire draft class. This won’t credit excellent players who were selected where they were expected to be drafted, for example Cam Ward at first overall, but hopefully I’ve made the goal of this view clear. Here are the results:
Right away, these measures tamper the value that Pittsburgh got in the draft, landing 19th across the NFL at 64.82. There were quality selections, don’t get me wrong, but this year was quite a bit lower than recent seasons, including top five hauls the past two years.
The best 2025 pick value for Pittsburgh was their first rounder: Oregon DL Derrick Harmon at 121.85. He had an 8.7 Steelers Depot Draft Grade and went two picks earlier than Mock Draft Database’s (MDD) expectations.
Second-best was in the fourth round, Ohio State EDGE Jack Sawyer. Everyone’s draft boards are different, but MDD had him at 59th overall. The Steelers pounced on the opportunity at 123rd overall. A Steelers Depot Draft Grade of 7.6, bringing his pick value to 103.3.
Iowa RB Kaleb Johnson had the third-best 102.25 pick value in Pittsburgh’s draft haul, meaning their first three selections were the cream of their draft in these terms. An 8.5 Steelers Draft Grade (second-best of their class), 62nd on MDD’s big board, compared to his actual selection at 83rd overall.
The highlight of Pittsburgh’s late round selections was Ohio State QB Will Howard. His 83.65 pick value consisted of an 8.3 Steelers Depot Draft Grade (third in Pittsburgh’s draft class) and 100th per MDD’s big board, compared to his actual selection at 185th in the sixth round.
The Steelers’ other three selections landed much lower in the results. Iowa DL Yahya Black was the teams fifth round pick at 164th overall. MDD had him at 271, and he had the second lowest 6.8 Steelers Depot Draft Grade of the class, which resulted in a low 24.9 pick value.
Pittsburgh’s two seventh round selections were their lowest pick values as well: Washington LB Carson Bruener (13.3) and Central Michigan CB/PR Donte Kent (4.5). Bruener had a 6.6 Steelers Depot Draft grade and went 226th overall, compared to a 349 MDD projection.
Only six draft picks had a lower pick value than Kent, reiterating how much of a reach that pick felt. He was the one player of the class we didn’t have a scouting report on pre-draft. He was 592nd on the MDD big board, as opposed to his actual 229th spot he was selected.
Through Steelers lenses, it’s unfortunate to see the Cleveland Browns as the team with the strongest pick value in the class. This was of course aided by the historic fall of QB Shedeur Sanders (top 10 projection, selected in the fifth round) with a 129.65 pick value, seventh best among all draft picks. They also didn’t “reach” compared to teams such as Pittsburgh, with the Browns lowest pick value being another QB: Dillon Gabriel (58.05).
Rounding out the top five were Atlanta (94.47), the New York Giants (89.09), Tampa Bay (86.68) and Kansas City (85.96). The bottom five consisted of Houston (56.91), Jacksonville (54.57), Denver (54.32), Green Bay (53.44) and San Francisco (51.34).
Here’s how the AFC North fared: Cleveland (first, 102.66), Cincinnati (ninth, 75.86), Pittsburgh (19th, 64.82), and Baltimore (26th, 58.86). Each team had some strong individual pick values, but the Ravens in particular “reached” on several of their 11 selections.
The Steelers had a strong draft, letting the board come to them especially on the first two days of the draft. From round five on, the picks were over-drafted compared to their projections and bumped the Steelers down the board in this study.
Pittsburgh had a clear plan in mind, particularly bolstering the defensive trenches. This was a dire need and big reason why the team collapsed in the painful losing streak to close the 2024 season. That is, of course, more encouraging than a study like this. Hopefully it’s successful in righting the wrongs that were endured last year. Knock on wood that’s the case.
While NFL teams had access to more information on the prospects and obviously different boards, I had fun putting this together in an attempt to gauge how the Pittsburgh Steelers draft compared to the rest of the league. I hope you enjoyed it as well.
How do you feel about the value of the Steelers draft? What about the rest of the NFL? Thanks for reading and let me know your thoughts in the comments.
