Draft Guru Thinks Steelers First-Rd Pick is ‘Awfully Rich’ for Jaxson Dart
The Athletic draft guru Dane Brugler doesn’t see the Pittsburgh Steelers using their first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft on Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart.
Appearing on an episode of the Mina Kimes Podcast on Monday, Brugler was given the choice between having the Steelers pick Dart or Georgia safety Malaki Starks with the No. 21 overall pick in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
Brugler picked Starks, and said that quarterback does make sense for the Steelers in this year’s draft, but that the value isn’t there to take Dart that early in the draft.
“For a team like the Steelers, quarterback starts to make sense because you don’t need him to play right away, hopefully,” Brugler said. “You’re talking about down the road. … The idea of taking a quarterback makes sense for the Steelers. I like Jaxson Dart. I just think that’s awfully rich to draft him.”
The Steelers have certainly done their due diligence on Dart, bringing him to UPMC Rooney Sports Complex for a pre-draft visit last week. They also had a formal interview with him at the 2025 NFL Combine and met with him at the 2025 Senior Bowl — one of the few players in the entire draft class the team has paid that much attention to.
Shedeur Sanders was taken far earlier in their mock draft, so that left the Steelers without another attractive option at quarterback.
Starks is not a name that has been routinely connected to the Steelers, but they have shown a surprising amount of interest in the safety position. Head coach Mike Tomlin, general manger Omar Khan and defensive coordinator Teryl Austin were all at the Georgia pro day in Athens, Georgia.
The Steelers also have scouted some of the other top safeties like Nick Emmanwori of South Carolina and Andrew Mukuba of Texas.