By Ray Porter Jr. for Urban Media Today
PITTSBURGH, PA–10 Draft picks later, the Pittsburgh Steelers concluded their part in the NFL Draft and their Front Office was very pleased with the results.
“Awesome weekend, it truly was. I just want to start by really congratulating the city and the people in this city for the Draft here and how it turned out.” Said GM Omar Khan. “I can’t tell you guys; how awesome the feedback has been from the people that I talked to and all the excitement down there. From politicians, the people, obviously, I can’t tell you guys what Art Rooney and Dan Rooney did for this. It’s been great to see. Everybody from the League office, the Commissioner, and his staff, I can’t tell you how again, I keep using that word “awesome.” It was awesome. It truly has been.
I truly love our process. We had a great board. When you have a good process, and you trust your board like we do, sometimes the Draft throws curveballs your way, and things just sort out from there when that happens if you have that trust. I can’t say enough about those guys. I also want to thank Mike [McCarthy] and his coaches. Man, these guys, the time, and effort they put into this. We haven’t done this in, what, 19 years with a new staff here, and the way these guys just worked so hard. Man, I can’t thank you guys, coach, for this process. Really pleased with how things turned out. We drafted, what did we end up with, ten picks?”
In addition to selecting Tackle Max Iheanachor (1st Round), WR Germie Bernard (2nd Round), QB Drew Allar, Daylen Everette and Gennings Dunker (3rd Round), the Steelers selected Iowa WR Kaden Wetjen (4th Round), Indiana FB Riley Nowakowski (5th Round), Notre Dame DT Gabriel Rubio (6th Round) and concluding with Oklahoma S Robert Spears-Jennings and Navy RB Eli Heidenreich (7th Round)
“You have to trust your board. I’ve always looked at the Draft board similar to calling a huge game, but obviously with a lot more energy.” Said head coach Mike McCarthy. “So much time and energy goes into putting that board together. This Draft, this weekend was very refreshing when you see need hit value, when value hits need. When you get down to those picks, you’re usually talking about two, three, four players, but it really did, we did not go into the Draft saying we’re going to take so many offensive players or so many defensive players. We wanted to raise the level of our talent.”
On DT Rubio, McCarthy said “I just think, number one, you watch the way he plays, and you look at his skill set. He’s a Pittsburgh Steeler defensive lineman. I think he’s an outstanding fit for the 3-4. I thought that was a no-brainer pick right there.”
On Nowakowski: “I think, when you look at Riley, his versatility jumps off the charts.” Said McCarthy. “When you go back to Wisconsin, he plays in the two back offense and played in the three-surface offense, where he played the fullback up on the line, all the movement ability. He played a full year in a run-and-shoot type one-back, so he has a one-back running ability too. I cannot tell you how impressed I was with him and his story to leave Wisconsin and to go to Indiana to be a captain on the National Championship team. This is an outstanding pick.”
“I think the execution went pretty good. Really happy with the players that we acquired.” Said Khan. “We went into it, as I mentioned to you guys, I didn’t know if we were going to end up with 10 or 14 picks. We were open to anything. There were some good players in this draft; there really was. We got 10 good ones. I’d like to tell you that, hey, we’re going to end up with 10 or 9 or 8 and 4 first rounders, but you sort of have to let it come to you, and you trust your process.”
Notes: The NFL Draft drew a record 805,000 fans in Pittsburgh. The three-day total topped the previous mark of 775,000 set in Detroit in 2024—easily surpassing initial forecasts of 500,000 to 700,000. “On behalf of the Pittsburgh Steelers, I want to extend my sincere gratitude to everyone who played a part in making the NFL Draft here in Pittsburgh such an incredible success. From the moment Pittsburgh was announced as the host two years ago, it was clear that this community would rise to the occasion – and you exceeded every expectation. The energy, pride, and hospitality on display throughout the week showcased Pittsburgh at its very best for the world to see.” Team President Art Rooney II said in a statement.
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