The Pittsburgh Steelers are looking high and low for a quarterback. But much like an empty fridge door re-opening at 3 AM, groceries aren’t going to magically appear. Despite a less-than-stellar 2026 draft class at the position, the Steelers are being thorough in their search for the future.
“They’ve also done a ton of homework on this particular draft class over the last year and the quarterbacks involved,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler noted Thursday morning on Get Up.
While decision day isn’t until late-April’s draft, the organization’s work began months ago. Scouting this current class two and even three years ahead of time, the Steelers’ front office spent the college football season attending practices and games to evaluate the top options. The problem is those possibilities hardly materialized. Penn State’s Drew Allar, LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier, and Clemson’s Cade Klubnik all failed to reach expectations as potential first-round quarterbacks. Now, they’re fighting just to hear their name called during the first three rounds of the draft.
Alabama’s Ty Simpson might be the only possible first-round option and even then, he’s hardly a slam dunk to be taken in the top 32.
If there is a quarterback to watch in the mid-day crowd, it might be Nussmeier. He flashed in 2024, making him a potential Day 1 pick in 2025. That plan went sideways after a poor season that saw him get benched, but a lingering core injury might be to blame. Healthy for the Senior Bowl, Nussmeier shined and was named the game’s MVP. Our Ross McCorkle noted Nussmeier improved every day during practice.
His two-degree connection to Pittsburgh could also help. Nussmeier’s father, Doug, played in the league for years and coached with new Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy in Dallas from 2020-2022.
“We’ll see if they pull the trigger,” Fowler said of Pittsburgh drafting a quarterback.
An Aaron Rodgers return shouldn’t preclude the team from drafting a quarterback at any point. Selecting one at No. 21 is less likely but the team’s trio of third-round picks could be a sweet spot to take a chance on a name like Nussmeier or anyone else atop Pittsburgh’s draft board.
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