With the loss to the Houston Texans on Monday night, the Steelers’ season is officially over. There will be some time in the coming days to reflect on the season’s highs and lows, but all eyes eventually
look forward to the NFL Draft. The Steelers now know where they’ll be picking in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Updated 2026 NFL Draft order
Coming into Wild Card Weekend, picks 1-18 were already cemented. Now, with six more teams eliminated from the playoffs, the picture is all the more clear.
According to NFL Operations, picks are awarded based on a team’s record, disregarding what seed they were in the playoffs. In the instances of a tie, the team whose strength of schedule was weaker is awarded the more valuable pick.
Pittsburgh was the only team to go 10-7 in 2025, making the math for their draft slot rather simple. The only playoff teams with worse records were Carolina and Green Bay, meaning the Steelers will once again be picking 21st (my favorite number, for whatever little that’s worth). The Steelers most recently picked 21st in the 2025 draft.
Here is the full draft order so far, with eight teams remaining in title contention:
- Las Vegas Raiders: 3-14 record (.538 strength of schedule)
- New York Jets: 3-14 (.552)
- Arizona Cardinals: 3-14 (.571)
- Tennessee Titans: 3-14 (.574)
- New York Giants: 4-13
- Cleveland Browns: 5-12 (.486)
- Washington Commanders: 5-12 (.507)
- New Orleans Saints: 6-11 (.495)
- Kansas City Chiefs: 6-11 (.514)
- Cincinnati Bengals: 6-11 (.521)
- Miami Dolphins: 7-10
- Dallas Cowboys: 7-9-1
- Los Angeles Rams (from ATL): 8-9 (.495)
- Baltimore Ravens: 8-9 (.507)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 8-9 (.529)
- New York Jets (from IND): 8-9 (.540)
- Detroit Lions: 9-8 (.490)
- Minnesota Vikings: 9-8 (.514)
- Carolina Panthers: 8-9
- Dallas Cowboys (from GB): 9-7-1
- Pittsburgh Steelers: 10-7
- Los Angeles Chargers: 11-6 (.458)
- Philadelphia Eagles: 11-6 .(476)
- Cleveland Browns (from JAX): 13-4
To be determined
- Chicago Bears: 11-6
- Buffalo Bills: 12-5 (.471)
- San Francisco 49ers: 12-5 (.498)
- Houston Texans: 12-5 (.522)
- Los Angeles Rams: 12-5 (.526)
- New England Patriots: 14-3 (.391)
- Denver Broncos: 14-3 (.422)
- Seattle Seahawks: 14-3 (.498)
Pittsburgh and the history of the 21st pick
The Steelers have picked from the 21st spot five times in team history:
- WR Lynn Swann, USC (1974)
- LB Robin Cole, New Mexico (1977)
- DE Gabriel Rivera, Texas Tech (1983)
- TE Eric Green, Liberty (1990)
- DT Derrick Harmon, Oregon (2025)
While I won’t say that it is a treasure trove compared to any other draft slot, there is a fairly good list of players that have been chosen 21st over the years, especially in the last 30 years or so:
- WR Johnnie Morton, USC (1994)
- WR Randy Moss, Marshall (1998)
- DT Vince Wilfork, Miami (2004)
- C Alex Mack, California (2009)
- DE Chandler Jones, Syracuse (2012)
- TE Tyler Eifert, Notre Dame (2013)
- S Ha Ha Clinton Dix, Alabama (2014)
- CB Trent McDuffie, Washington (2022)
- WR Quentin Johnston, TCU (2023)
- DE Chop Robinson, Penn State (2024)
This draft should be a special one for Steelers fans, as Pittsburgh is playing host. What do you want to see the Steelers do with the 21st pick? Let us know in the comments!
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