The best thing for the Pittsburgh Steelers on Friday night was to make a splash in the second and third rounds of the 2026 NFL Draft and help put aside all the drama of the first round. The Steelers ended up pulling off two trades and making four picks on Friday night that included wide receiver Germie Bernard, quarterback Drew Allar, cornerback Daylen Everett and offensive lineman Gennings Dunker.

After sitting back and staring at the draft board on Thursday night, the Steelers front office was much more aggressive on Friday. It felt like the team learned its lesson after possibly missing out on opportunities on the first day and we applaud General Manager Omar Khan for making great use of the team's remaining picks to secure players they wanted.

We maintain that the Steelers would have taken Ty Simpson or Carson Beck if they hadn't been taken ahead of their picks so we have no issue with the team going with Penn State's Drew Allar. The choice of Allar is the best attempt the team has made to bring in a franchise quarterback since Ben Roethlisberger retired and this includes the selection of Kenny Pickett.

A lot of fans were scratching their heads over the selection of offensive tackle Max Iheanachor in the first round but after trading up for Iowa's Gennings Dunker offers clarity. Dunker is the guy they are bringing in to play left guard and Iheanachor will be able to focus strictly on tackle. We are fully on board with this given the talent at guard and the injury status of Broderick Jones.

We have a late fourth, early fifth-round grade on Georgia cornerback Daylen Everett, so we definitely characterize his selection as a reach. He goes too soon because of measurables and offseason workouts but there's no denying his film isn't great.

This article originally appeared on Steelers Wire: 2026 NFL Draft: Big takeaways from the Steelers Day 2 picks