Let's talk about the NFL Draft

The Steelers, positional value, and more

1. For the better part of the past two months I would consistently get asked two sports related questions whenever I would find myself involved in any human interaction.

• Who is the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback going to be this season?

• Who are the Pittsburgh Steelers going to pick in the first round of the draft?

For a while, my answer to both was something along the lines of “I have no idea.”

It beats the hell out of me as to what their quarterback plan is (do they even know?), and there is no way I can make a realistic guess as to what a mid-first-round draft pick is going to be that far out. I have no idea who is going to be available on draft day, who the team likes, what they will do, or how pre-draft meetings and workouts will go.

The best mock-draft people only get like five picks rights per year.

Even if you try to narrow in and focus on only one team you are still largely guessing.

Let’s be honest here, unless you are evaluating the draft and college football for a living we’re all just throwing shit at the wall, relying on other people’s evaluations and screaming into the void here about players we don’t really know much about. Sometimes even the draft evaluators are doing that.

Eventually my answer to both questions jokingly became “Shedeur Sanders” just because I wanted to amuse myself with the reactions I would get (and let me tell you …. people did NOT like that suggestion).

Then something weird happened. As the draft started to get closer I almost felt like I was manifesting that shit into existence. He came in for a pre-draft visit. He was starting to slide down mock draft predictions. Eventually the people that write about these things and have contacts were presumably starting to find out the NFL teams didn’t think as highly of him as the media and talking heads did, and that he might actually be available at their pick.

If he were to get by the New Orleans Saints at the No. 9 pick, there was nobody between them and the Steelers that was going to be in the market for a quarterback barring a trade of some sort.

Maybe this was actually going to happen.

Then I started to talk myself into it. I wouldn’t trade up for him, but if he falls into your lap at the No. 21 pick? Sure. Why not. What the hell. Roll the dice and take the swing.

The Steelers, ultimately, did not do that, and instead went with Oregon defensive tackle Derrick Harmon (as the people closest to the Steelers kept insisting would happen).

I want to start off by saying this: I do not hate that pick. They absolutely needed to fix their defensive line, they did not do so in free agency, and the overwhelming consensus on him is that he can be a really good player for a really long time. Alongside Keanu Benton they have a couple of young long-term options in the middle that could disrupt a lot of things. As the Philadelphia Eagles keep showing us, a dominant and deep defensive line is of massive importance.

So, again, I am not mad about the pick. I want to emphasize that. It is a sensible pick. It is probably a smart pick. I can see it working out both individually for Harmon and on a team-level for the Steelers.

Here is my hangup, and why I would have maybe rolled the dice on Sanders.

If the Steelers nailed the Harmon pick and he develops as they hope and becomes a standout player, what does that do to the Steelers’ short-term ceiling as a team?

Does it raise it? Does it make them significantly better? Does it get them closer to doing the one thing everybody wants to see them do, which is win a playoff game and seriously compete for Super Bowls again?

And my answer to that is … I don’t think so.

It might make them better. Maybe they can win a playoff game. But I don’t know that he raises their ceiling much. I still feel like they’re a 10-win team that doesn’t win in the playoffs whether he hits or does not.

If you take Sanders (or, just hypothetically speaking, any quarterback in that spot) and he does hit …. well, that WOULD increase your ceiling just because of the importance and impact of the position.

I also realize there is guarantee Sanders hits. It is a risk. I also understand the concerns over his ceiling because he does not have that one “wow” trait to his skillset. But he was also an incredibly productive college player, and it was not a one-year wonder situation where he put it all together as a fifth-year starter (like, say, Kenny Pickett). He dominated for two years. He is incredibly accurate. He understands defenses and coverages. He is not afraid to stand in the pocket and take hits. I know those are all — mostly — subjective intangibles, but you can’t always teach accuracy. You can’t always teach the ability to understand defenses. You can’t always teach the ability to stand in the pocket and take a hit to deliver a throw.

The Steelers are in a position here where a quarterback might actually make the difference for them in terms of being a legitimate contender vs. the pretender they have been.

Say whatever you want about the other flaws on the roster, they are consistently winning 10 games and making the playoffs every year despite having some of the worst quarterback play in the NFL. Teams that get their level of quarterback play do not win this many games. They do not make the playoffs. The fact the Steelers still are winning games and making the playoffs despite that revolving door of crap at quarterback is a testament to the fact the rest of the roster IS pretty good.

They are doing SOMETHING right.

They just do not have the most important piece that can take them to the next level.

Maybe the Steelers are banking on the 2026 class being better and them having an opportunity to move up, or the class being so deep that maybe somebody slides down to them (because for whatever the ceiling is, the floor is not low enough to finish near the top of the draft).

Whatever their plan is, I am of the belief that until they get the quarterback right everything else on the roster is just of secondary importance.

Does it all still matter? Of course. Everything matters. But they are not getting closer to a Super Bowl again until they find a solution at quarterback no matter what any other position group looks like.

As long as there as a reasonable option available to them I would keep taking swings until they connect. I thought they had an opportunity to take that swing on Thursday.

They did not. We will see how it works and where they go from here.

Maybe I am badly wrong on this, especially after Sanders dropped out of the first round. And I am certainly not MAD that they did not take Sanders …. but I probably would have given it a little more consideration.

UPDATE ON FRIDAY NIGHT: Having seen how far Sanders has fallen in the draft …. maybe the Steelers were smart to not take him at No. 21 this year.

Let’s talk about some more draft thoughts from around the NFL including the Cleveland Browns decision to trade away from Travis Hunter, the Las Vegas using a top-six pick on a running back, and some of the other notable moves in the opening round.