Should the Steelers draft a quarterback this year, no matter what?
Heading into the 2026 NFL Draft, the Steelers don’t have their presumptive starting quarterback under contract, nor a future one. At least, not one in whom one should feel very confident. Right now, the hope of a savior is Will Howard, a sixth-round pick with no preseason experience. Pittsburgh has talked him up, and many fans want to lean into it, but right now it’s all just puffery.
Many subscribe to the theory that you have to keep drafting quarterbacks and taking swings until you have one, and the Steelers certainly don’t have one, or at least sufficient proof that they do. Even if Aaron Rodgers wins them a Super Bowl this year, he might not play next year. And I’m sorry, but no matter how much you admire Mason Rudolph, he will never be a franchise guy. Nearly a decade into his career, it’s time to accept that he won’t have a Sam Darnold renaissance. And not just because those meddling kids won’t give him a gosh dang chance.
Unless the Steelers trade the next five years’ worth of draft picks and a star player, they’re not trading up far enough to take the class’ top quarterback, Fernando Mendoza. Short of that, the only other player consistently in the first-round conversation is Ty Simpson.
But this isn’t about the Steelers drafting a first-round quarterback. This is just whether the Steelers should draft a quarterback, period, under the you never know principle. Many will likely argue that they already have their you never know quarterback in Will Howard. But until you have one that you know, well…you never do know, do you?
Quarterbacks drafted late almost never develop, which is just a statistical fact. For every Brock Purdy, there are 100 Chris Oladokuns. Now, one has Super Bowl rings, and it’s not the one you might expect. But you can “achieve” a lot as a backup to a backup to a Hall of Famer. So should the Steelers roll the dice and draft another quarterback, hoping for the next Brock Purdy? They have 12 draft picks right now, so they can afford a gamble at some point. Determining when is also an important variable here.
The Steelers exited the playoffs in the first round yet again, a pattern going back to 2017.With seven consecutive postseason losses, and no wins in nearly a decade, they are facing another long, long offseason. No doubt we will see many changes, but none will top Mike Tomlin’s resignation.
The NFL has crowned its latest champion, but for us and the Steelers, we have been in offseason mode. That’s what happens when the team you coverloses by the middle of January all the time, but you’ve been around, so you know that already. Enjoy the ride, even the turbulence, because it’s the only way we know how to travel anymore.
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