One of the most fun ways to play around with Madden NFL 26 is to use the game’s detailed ratings to simulate real-world scenarios, and one team in need of some real-world tweaking is the Pittsburgh Steelers. Stuck on the treadmill of being too good to draft their next stud QB but not good enough to compete in January, what would happen if they committed to doing something they’ve never done under Mike Tomlin: Losing games by the bunch.
The Complete Failure And Lessons Learned
This rebuild was actually the second attempt at turning the Steelers into a draft-built juggernaut, and while the first pass was spectacularly unsuccessful, it did provide two key lessons to bring into this redo. First, one that should be a bit obvious: If you’re going to do a simulation based on developing talent, it’s important to remember to turn on all the settings to automate roster management and player development. Apologies to Garrett Nussmeier for the extreme regression he experienced as a #3 pick.
The second should perhaps have been even more obvious to me as a Steeler fan: Do not dare leave Mike Tomlin an even remotely functional roster, or he will go 9-8 and make the playoffs even after you traded away your five best players for a bunch of first-round picks.
Everyone With Talent Must Go
Armed with the knowledge that a proper tank would require some serious sales, and the knowledge that only Nussmeier would have been hurt among the other top QB prospects by the development error and yet only Arch Manning had actually panned out, the goal for this rebuild was clear: Stock up on first rounders in 2026 and get the Steelers’ hands on their next franchise quarterback.
To accomplish this meant both stockpiling picks and decimating the roster enough to prevent Tomlin from doing any of that pesky qualifying for the playoffs. Not only do the top stars need to go, but anyone over 75, save a couple of young prospects who might just fit with our incoming talent, was shipped off.
Realizing there would likely be diminishing returns to just how many new rookies you could successfully onboard, I also looked to leverage later round picks to give trade proposals that little extra kick required to grab a second first-rounder or to bump a second up to a first. After absentmindedly dealing for the Chiefs’ first last time, only for it to be a virtual second-rounder when they inevitably won the AFC, I also focused on trading to teams expected to be poor the next few seasons.
When the dust settled, the Steelers’ pick haul for the upcoming three years looked like this:
- 2026 Arizona Cardinals 1st
- 2026 Carolina Panthers 1st
- 2026 Cleveland Browns 1st
- 2026 Jacksonville Jaguars 1st (via Cleveland)
- 2026 Los Angeles Chargers 1st
- 2026 Las Vegas Raiders 1st
- 2026 Pittsburgh Steelers 1st
- 2026 Cincinnati Bengals 2nd
- 2026 Las Vegas Raiders 2nd
- 2026 New Orleans Saints 2nd
- 2027 Atlanta Falcons 1st
- 2027 Carolina Panthers 1st
- 2027 Chicago Bears 1st
- 2027 Las Vegas Raiders 1st
- 2027 Pittsburgh Steelers 1st
- 2027 Cincinnati Bengals 2nd
- 2027 Jacksonville Jaguars 2nd
- 2027 Pittsburgh Steelers 2nd
- 2028 Las Vegas Raiders 1st
- 2028 Pittsburgh Steelers 1st
What Three Of The Top Four Picks Can Buy
The good news for the rebuild is that focusing on bad teams as partners paid off hard, with the Steelers grabbing picks 2, 3, 4, 9, 14, and 15, as only the Chargers made a playoff push to end up pick 25. The bad news is the Bears are still the Bears and out-lost the Steelers’ full slate of contenders to steal the number one pick, and with it the right of first refusal on Arch Manning. Fortunately for Yinzers, they still had faith in Caleb Williams, opting for defensive help.
This cleared the way for the Steelers to lock down Manning and begin building around him, starting on defense with his Texas teammate Malik Muhammad, along with Penn State box-fillers Dani Dennis-Sutton and Zane Durant. With the later first-rounders they protected him with Francis Mauigoa and gave him something to work with downfield in Antonio Williams and Ted Gilmore.
Continued Winning By Losing
While the first season provided the lynchpin QB the Steelers have lacked since the final years of Ben Roethlisberger’s career, year two was still loaded with picks, and the second draft would prove to be even more monumental by the end of the simulation. While the other teams would not play along as well as the first season, with both Carolina and the Raiders making surprising postseason runs, the Steelers handled their own business to claim the top pick, coupled with picks 4 and 9 from the Falcons and Bears.
Dylan Stewart became the #1 pick in the draft, kicking off a Hall of Fame career in Black and Gold, followed by Nate Frazier to slot into the backfield and Josiah Thompson to watch Manning’s blindside. Like the prior year, the late picks also benefited Manning directly as both Miles McVay and Tree Babalade joined the offensive line.
While year three only provided two first-round picks, the rebuild’s final picks went to the defense as the Steelers looked to make Elijah Griffin and Josaiah Stewart the final pieces of a dynastic puzzle.
New Franchise Icons Emerge
While Roethlisberger’s longevity meant Manning was never going to threaten to break his career records, by the end of the simulation and 12 years in the league, he was a 98-rated team leader and game winner. 2027 first-rounders Frazier and Stewart, on the other hand, were not just still in town but had taken the crown of most rushing touchdowns and most sacks in Steelers history, respectively.
On single-season records, Frazier had also claimed the touchdown mark with his 20-score season as the rebuild had its first big hit in 2031. Interestingly enough, a single-season sack record came to the team in 2029, but not from any of the draft picks, but, instead, the man responsible for acquiring two of them: T.J. Watt came home to rebuild the Steel Curtain after his Las Vegas contract ran out.
Much of the core of the team, even 12 years after the first draft, came from those first two seasons. Not only was Manning now among the best passers in the league while Frazier and Stewart were dominant forces, but Williams and Manning had forged a decade-plus partnership of dominance as Manning stood in a pocket stocked with 11th- and 12th-year vets.
A Contender Re-Emerges
Stats and individual accomplishments are great, but what about what really matters, winning Super Bowls? While things took a little time to get going for the young Steelers, once they did, it was back to the kind of continued success that Pittsburgh’s faithful have come to expect.
The record-setting season for Frazier also marked the Steelers’ return to the top of the AFC, a place they’d remain in or about for the final seven seasons of the simulation, winning the AFC three times in the final seven years. They fell in the big game both of the first two tries, setting up one final push for a Super Bowl within the confines of the simulation.
Coming into the Super Bowl, the Steelers brought not just their star quarterback to the table, but also the Defensive Player of the Year in Stewart. Facing off with the Atlanta Falcons, the talent accumulated through several years of carefully timed failure finally paid off, as a comfortable 34-24 victory ended the simulation with the Steelers on top. All told, the team had managed three AFC titles and one Super Bowl win in the 10 years after hitting the throttle, and a closing seven-year run that nearly replicated the team’s last bit of true dominance around the transition from Cowher to Tomlin.
How ‘Bout Them Boys!?!?
While the goal here was all about making Pittsburgh winners again, that doesn’t mean there weren’t other interesting developments to be found, not least of all the development of a juggernaut in Dallas. Just as the Steelers climbed back to prominence, so too did their biggest rival from the team’s early successful years.
At the same time, the Steelers were running off their three AFC titles in seven years, the Cowboys represented the NFC four times in the big game, winning all four times. The Steelers’ two Super Bowl losses came to the Cowboys, bringing the two teams up to five Super Bowl clashes, with the Cowboys now holding a 3-2 lead. Congratulations, Dallas fans, the man who can win under Jerry in the modern game has been found, and he’s computer-generated!
Elsewhere, the game believed in Bryce Young, who took the Panthers to two straight Super Bowls early in the simulation, winning once, while the Commanders and Eagles added an additional four NFC titles and one Super Bowl win to the NFC East’s very good simulation.
All told, the rebuild effort goes down as a qualified success. While there was the potential for even better results for a team with a superstar quarterback and several future Hall of Famers all peaking at the same time, even for a franchise as historically successful it’s hard to turn down three Super Bowl appearances with a across just seven seasons and a return to the consistent winning not seen since Roethlisberger’s prime.
