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Steelers draft Pittsburgh native, Navy cadet Eli Heidenreich in front of hometown crowd

IMG_0985by: Griffin McVeigh04/25/26griffin_mcveigh

When commissioner Roger Goodell decided to put the NFL Draft on the road, these are likely the moments he envisioned. The Pittsburgh Steelers selected one of the city’s own on Saturday night in the seventh round. Running back Eli Heidenreich will begin his professional career with the Steelers after playing his college football at Navy.

Given he is a Pittsburgh native, Heidenreich was in attendance to hear his name called. He then went down the tunnel, as players coming from the green room usually do. Nothing but emotion was on Heidenreich’s face throughout. A really special moment for everyone involved, which you can check out here.

Guys getting drafted out of Navy is not too common these days. Heidenreich and Landon Robinson made it just six since 2000. So, even if you did not take into consideration Heidenreich enjoying this moment with the city of Pittsburgh and the Steelers, it’s an incredibly cool moment.

There are plenty of on-field reasons for taking Heidenreich, as well. He rushed for 499 yards and three touchdowns on just 77 carries during the 2026 season. Weirdly enough, Navy used Heidenreich a ton through the air as well. Just over 50 receptions turned into 941 yards and six touchdowns.

Head coach Mike McCarthy will surely love the character entering the franchise. A lot of positives certainly come out of the situation, producing a fantastic story for Day 3 of the 2026 NFL Draft.

What NFL Draft analysts are saying about new Pittsburgh Steelers running back Eli Heidenreich

Before the draft took place, Heidenreich received a scouting report from NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein. Initially, Zierlein thought Heidenreich would be taken a little earlier — projecting him as a sixth-round pick. However, there are a lot of positive traits heading to Pittsburgh.

“Versatile and productive, Heidenreich possesses good size and toughness,” Zierlein said. “Most of his run production came on jet sweeps from Navy’s option attack, but he appears to lack the acceleration to outpace NFL pursuit as a wide runner. He was a strong tester, displaying the ability to take on a bigger chunk of route-running than he saw in college. He’s short-limbed with a limited catch radius, but he hangs on tight when it hits his hands. Teams will like the mentality and his special-teams potential, but he might lack the necessary athleticism to uncover on routes or elude tacklers with the ball in his hands.”