Steelers' Young Core In 2026: Six Players Who Could Shape Pittsburgh

The Pittsburgh Steelers reached Week 6 at 3-2 after beating Indianapolis 34-22, and several of the more interesting roster questions now belong to players under 26. Mike McCarthy’s first Steelers team kept all 10 members of its 2026 draft class on the initial 53-man roster, while Zach Frazier, Payton Wilson and Derrick Harmon have already moved beyond developmental status. Max Iheanachor and Germie Bernard are getting regular-season work immediately; Drew Allar is taking the slower quarterback route. The next version of the roster is already visible.

Iheanachor Has Moved From Project to Starter

First-round tackle Max Iheanachor, selected 21st overall in April, made his first NFL start against Cincinnati on September 27 and remained in the starting lineup against Cleveland and Indianapolis. At 6-foot-6 and 321 pounds, he arrived with less football experience than most first-round linemen: he did not play the sport until junior college, then started 31 games at Arizona State. His 2025 college season was the cleaner number to remember: zero sacks allowed, three quarterback hits and 11 hurries. Thirty of his 31 college starts came at right tackle, so Pittsburgh is asking him to refine an NFL version of a job he already knows.

Bernard Finally Got a Sunday to Himself

Germie Bernard spent September sharing targets; against Indianapolis, he demanded them. The second-round rookie caught six passes for 80 yards in Week 5, taking his season totals to 13 receptions and 140 yards after only seven catches across the first four games. Alabama had already used him in several ways—64 receptions for 862 yards in 2025, plus 18 rushing attempts for another 101. Pittsburgh drafted that flexibility rather than a one-route specialist, and his ability to work both outside and in the slot gives the offense somewhere to turn while Michael Pittman Jr. sits on injured reserve.

Frazier and Wilson Have Outgrown the Prospect Label

Zach Frazier entered 2026 with 32 starts in 32 regular-season games and has started each of Pittsburgh’s first five games this season. The center also committed only one false start and three holding penalties across his first 1,917 NFL offensive snaps, a useful measure of how quickly he settled into the position. Payton Wilson has been just as difficult to describe as a developmental player: he has played all five games this year and totaled 44 tackles, one sack and two passes defensed. He posted 13 tackles against Atlanta, then added nine and a sack at Cleveland before making 10 more against Indianapolis.

Keep Two Kinds of Risk in Different Columns

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Harmon’s Next Step Now Includes the Injury Room

Derrick Harmon’s second season started well and then stopped. The 23-year-old defensive tackle recorded half a sack at New England, then produced a full sack and forced fumble against Cincinnati, giving him 1.5 sacks in three 2026 appearances after 3.0 sacks as a rookie. Pittsburgh placed him on injured reserve on October 5, so his near-term story is now recovery rather than snap growth. Cameron Heyward remains the veteran reference point on the defensive front, but Harmon’s first 15 regular-season games have already produced 4.5 career sacks.

Allar Can Afford to Wait

Drew Allar has not taken a regular-season NFL snap, which is exactly why projections around him need restraint. Pittsburgh selected the Penn State quarterback 76th overall after a college career of 7,402 passing yards and 61 touchdown passes, then kept him on the 53-man roster alongside Aaron Rodgers, Mason Rudolph and Will Howard. His preseason showed both the appeal and the unfinished work: Allar threw for 153 yards and two touchdowns against Green Bay, then failed to throw a touchdown in the final two exhibition games. No rush. If Pittsburgh eventually finds a starting quarterback in that third-round pick, the value will come from development rather than pretending October 2026 has already supplied an answer.