Despite Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral having been earlier named the favorite to wind up in Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Steelers have been named the favorites to land Liberty quarterback Malik Willis by FanDuel Sportsbook.
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The Steelers are the favorites to land Willis with +250 odds. They are followed by ten teams being the Carolina Panthers (+350), New Orleans Saints (+350), Atlanta Falcons (+600), Seattle Seahawks (+600), Detroit Lions (+900), Washington Commanders (20/1), New York Giants (20/1), Houston Texans (30/1), Indianapolis Colts (30/1) and the Philadelphia Eagles (30/1).
All of the teams that are also named as a potential landing spot for Willis by FanDuel will pick before the Steelers. The oddsmakers at FanDuel clearly believe that several teams will pass on Willis and/or that the Steelers will trade up to select the quarterback.
Trading up to select a quarterback is something that has been talked about lately as a stronger possibility despite it not historically being the “Steelers’ Way” of doing business. Although, the Steelers arguably have been leaning away from the “Steelers Way” for several years now.
The team previously traded up to the No. 10 pick to select inside linebacker Devin Bush in the 2019 NFL Draft. The team traded their 2020 first round pick for safety Minkah Fitzpatrick in 2019. They signed TJ Watt to a contract that guarantees him $80 million prior to last season. And this past offseason, they signed several free agents to what amounted to the largest ever free agency class in franchise history. All of these transactions done within the last three seasons are far from the course of “Steelers’ Way.”
Most of the teams mentioned, including the Steelers, have also found a quarterback to start for them in 2022. The Seahawks and the Falcons are arguably the two teams who haven’t yet found their 2022 starter. That being said, Willis is someone who almost all draft experts consider to need a season of development as a backup. The fact that almost all of 2022’s starting quarterback jobs are locked up won’t prevent Willis from being a first round pick.
The first round of NFL Draft is next Thursday at 8:00 p.m. and will be available to watch at four different places: ESPN, NFL Network, ABC and the ESPN App. The 2022 NFL Draft will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada after being held in Cleveland, Ohio last year.