It’s well-accepted across the media and most of the Pittsburgh Steelers fan base that the organization will draft a quarterback at some point. Who will that quarterback be and where will he be taken are the only remaining questions.
One prediction has been that if former University of Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett were to fall to the Steelers at No. 20 then the team would jump on the opportunity to take him. However, Ryan McCrystal of Sharp Football Analysis seems to think that not only will Pickett be passed on by the Steelers in the first round, but that they will end up with him with the 52nd overall pick in the second round of the draft.
Over the last 10 years we’ve seen average of 11.5 QBs get drafted.
Here’s a QB-only mock draft for the players I expected to hear their names called this year. pic.twitter.com/MyfgqSUD2L
— Ryan McCrystal (@Ryan_McCrystal) April 1, 2022
If the Steelers were to manage to get Pickett, a quarterback that some are projecting the Carolina Panthers to take sixth overall, in the second round without trading up then they will get tremendous value for that pick.
If Pickett were to fall out of the first round it’d be tough to imagine many quarterback needy teams such as the Panthers, Seattle Seahawks and Atlanta Falcons passing on him a second time let alone considering trading up for him to get him before the Steelers pick at No. 52.
But as evidenced by McCrystal’s mock draft, it is certainly possible and the 2022 class is considered a historically weak quarterback draft while next year’s 2023 draft is considered to be a strong one. Teams could very well feel comfortable just waiting until 2023 to select their quarterback of the future.
Plus many of the teams that need a quarterback of the future also have solid options at the position for 2022. Sam Darnold, Mitch Trubisky and Drew Lock have all been first round disappointments in their careers thus far, but the Panthers, Steelers and Seahawks could be satisfied with them at quarterback considering their first round pedigree and relatively young age.
Likewise, the New Orleans Saints, who are projected to take Liberty’s Malik Willis with the 18th overall pick in this mock draft, re-signed Jameis Winston and recently signed Andy Dalton. The Detroit Lions, projected to take Desmond Ridder, have former Super Bowl starting quarterback Jared Goff. While none of these options are ideal, they could be reason enough to resist taking a quarterback early in the 2022 draft and instead wait on the much-deeper 2023 draft.