The Pittsburgh Steelers added Notre Dame defensive tackle Gabriel Rubio in the sixth round of the 2026 NFL Draft. Here are our staff grades on the selection.
Ryan Parish: Going to be honest, I don’t have a lot on Rubio. His year was done after Week 7 when he was shut down with a left arm injury. On the NFL’s website, he’s the only player in the 6th round that doesn’t have an accompanying photo. At 6’5 and 321 pounds, I assume he’s going to try to get snaps at nose tackle. Valuewise this feels like
a reach, and Jordan van Deberg, who went a pick later, is a DT I would have rather targeted. That there is so little information out there on him feels like a bad sign. But I’ll reserve judgment until we see him this summer. Grade: C
Ryland Bickley: I haven’t watched any of Rubio until today so I’m not going to be the most opinionated on this one. What’s worrying is that he was incredibly low on the consensus board and his 4.82 RAS doesn’t show a ton of upside. But his size (6’5, 322 pounds) and over-33-inch arms fit the bill for an NFL defensive lineman. In the little bit of Rubio that I’ve watched now, he appears to be a solid run stuffer. Giving incomplete grades is no fun — and there’s rarely a reason to be mad at a sixth-round selection — we’ll see how this pick plays out. Grade: C+
Mike Nicastro: Consensus appears that Rubio was quite low on top pundits draft boards, and I’ll defer to that here. Certainly the Steelers believe they wouldn’t have been able to get this guy as an undrafted free agent, but they may be the only ones. Grade: D
Jarrett Bailey: Respectfully, I haven’t a blues clue who this guy is. His dad, Angel, was drafted by the Steelers in 1998 and was then traded to the 49ers. He is the No. 635 player on the consensus big board. Grade: D-
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