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Draft Expert Warns Steelers About Finding QB Lower In Draft
The Pittsburgh Steelers own the No. 21 overall pick in this year's draft, but one expert doesn't think they should go quarterback.
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said the team will consider all options at quarterback this offseason, and that includes the 2025 NFL Draft. However, one draft expert thinks they should be careful about using valuable draft capital on the position.
The Steelers currently own the No. 21 overall pick in this year’s draft, which has already been tabbed as having one of the weaker quarterback classes in recent memory.
Miami quarterback Cam Ward and Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders are both expected to be top three picks come April. That will likely be too far out of reach for the Steelers to try and move up.
After Ward and Sanders, the quarterbacks become even riskier to select, at least early on. That’s why ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. warned the Steelers to not be so quick to move off quarterbacks Russell Wilson or Justin Fields.
“These quarterbacks don’t grow on a tree,” Kiper said on ESPN’s “Unsportsmanlike.” “So all these teams that say, ‘Oh, they’re gonna get a quarterback, they’re gonna have to move away from their guy.’ Move away to who? Who are you moving away to?”
The Steelers could still decide to retain one of their quarterbacks. A recent report hints it will be the 10-years-younger Fields if that is the case.
However, it sounds like Tomlin is not opposed to starting completely over, either. During his end-of-season news conference, he revealed that he doesn’t believe the Steelers need a high draft pick to land their next franchise quarterback.
“Lamar (Jackson) wasn’t taken at the top of the draft,” Tomlin said. “(Jalen) Hurts wasn’t taken in the first round.”
While that can be true, more times than not, teams will strike out on quarterback later in the draft. That’s exactly what happened with quarterback Kenny Pickett when the Steelers selected him with the No. 20 overall pick in 2022.
That doesn’t mean the Steelers shouldn’t draft a quarterback at all this year. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to take another shot on the position, but they need to have some stability at quarterback entering the draft.
Kiper believes that should be Fields if he wants to come back.
“Good luck because if you’re cutting ties with Russell Wilson and Justin Fields and Justin Fields said, ‘Hey, I’d like to be back with the Steelers. I don’t wanna learn another offense.’ He had to do that three of the last four years, so I think Justin’s right about that,” Kiper said. “Learning a new offense is like learning a new language and to have these young quarterbacks have to do that year in and year out, it ruins them. It puts way too much on their plate. It’s overflowing.”
Alan Saunders provided reporting from Pittsburgh.
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