The Pittsburgh Steelers are used to picking late in the first round in the NFL Draft. It’s extremely rare for them to have a high draft pick. That could be considered a good thing, as it shows that the team is competing for the playoffs every year. On the other hand, when you have a revolving door at quarterback, a lack of a high draft pick can hurt.
The Steelers have been reluctant to take a big swing to try and land their franchise quarterback. However, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler thinks the organization might be realizing it has no other choice.
“I expect in one of the next two years, they go aggressively in the draft for a passer,” Fowler said Thursday on The Rich Eisen Show. “Like, they acknowledge that they have to do that.”
If the Steelers feel like getting bold in this year’s draft, they might have to trade up pretty far. This isn’t like 2024, when you could have landed a potential franchise quarterback with the 12th pick. Although some predict Shedeur Sanders to slide on draft day, he’s one of only two consensus first-round quarterbacks in this draft, and several QB-needy teams pick ahead of the Steelers. That said, both Sanders and Cam Ward have the potential to become great NFL QBs. If the Steelers did take a swing there, it would be risky, but potentially well worth it.
While we’re a long way away from the 2026 draft, that QB class has the potential to be better than this year’s. From Drew Allar to Arch Manning and Nico Iamaleava, and many others, it’s a talented class as a whole. Who knows where the Steelers will end up selecting in 2026. However, they might have an easier time trading up than they do this year.
With needs at running back and along the defensive line, the Steelers could just punt the decision to next offseason and rely on Aaron Rodgers for 2025. Unfortunately, they’re still waiting on him.
“Maybe they’re even willing to wait up until the draft, but I can’t imagine they’re willing to wait three to four months,” Fowler said. “So I think they’re hoping, like everybody else, that there’s a resolution at some point in the next days and weeks.”
Rodgers may come to Pittsburgh, or he may not. It doesn’t change the fact that the Steelers are still going to need to take a swing at the position. If not this year, next year it’s a must.
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