The Steelers selected Oklahoma safety Robert Spears-Jennings with the 224th overall pick in the seventh round of the 2026 NFL Draft, giving Pittsburgh a defender who played in 47 games over four seasons and finished his college career with 178 tackles.
He arrived at Oklahoma and kept climbing. In 2025, Spears-Jennings played in all 13 games, started the final 12 and finished with 59 tackles, including 1.5 for loss, one interception, two pass breakups and one forced fumble. His interception at Tennessee on Nov. 1 went for 37 yards, one of the clearest snapshots of his range and awareness in space.
That production capped a steady run through four seasons in Norman. Spears-Jennings also started 11 games in 2024, when he posted 66 tackles, 5.0 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, one interception, one pass breakup, four forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. In 2023, he played in 12 games and made two starts, and in 2022 he appeared in nine games while totaling 15 tackles and 0.5 tackle for loss.
Joe Whitt Jr. said Spears-Jennings had a skill set the Steelers were looking for, describing him as a player who can work in the box and has the speed to handle high zones. That versatility matters for a late-round pick because Pittsburgh is buying traits as much as numbers, and Spears-Jennings brings both: 101 solo stops, eight tackles for loss and two interceptions across a career that grew more complete each year.
The fit now becomes the question. Spears-Jennings is no longer just a steady Oklahoma starter with good production. He is a seventh-round draft pick trying to turn four years of versatility into a role with the Steelers, and Pittsburgh will decide how much of his game shows up near the line and how much carries over deeper in the field.