Former NFL general manager Doug Whaley thinks the Pittsburgh Steelers are stuck in the stone age, and need to get rid of the ball-control offense and play stout defense philosophical approach.
“In the end you have to evolve,” Whaley said on the Fan Morning Show. “If we didn’t evolve we’d still be using rotary phones. If we didn’t evolve we would have faster horses instead of automobiles.”
“Today’s NFL, you have to score points. Even the highest paid defense and a defense that at times looked dominant, can’t be a dominant (defense) 17 weeks with the ways the rules are and the way offenses are played now. It’s just not happening. You have to adjust your mindset, you have to.”
The bottom line is that the Steelers just don’t have a quarterback right now. You can’t compete with Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes or Joe Burrow with a 36-year-old Russell Wilson. It’s just not possible.
Without a doubt, the Steelers are stuck in quarterback purgatory. There is no easy answer, but it appears the Steelers are open to doing whatever it takes to fix the glaring issue.
Many believe it may take a bad year to have a high enough draft pick to find their next franchise quarterback.
Tomlin does not agree with that sentiment, though.
“Lamar (Jackson) wasn’t taken at the top of the draft,” Tomlin said. “(Jalen) Hurts wasn’t taken in the first round.”
Unfortunately for the Steelers, this isn’t a great quarterback class. Miami quarterback Cam Ward and Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders most likely will go in the top 3, but outside of that, there isn’t much there.
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?”
Aaron Becker contributed reporting for this story.