The Pittsburgh Steelers met with Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott while in Indianapolis for the 2016 NFL Scouting Combine and their interest in him apparently hasn’t stopped there.
According to Steve Robertson on Twitter, a Steelers scout was “camped out” with Mississippi State quarterback coach Brian Johnson during the college’s pro day on Thursday and he even went as far as to ask for more throws from Prescott after the drills had concluded.
Prescott, who measured in at 6022, 226-pounds at the combine a few weeks ago, threw for 3,793 yards and 29 touchdowns in 2015 with only 5 interceptions. He also posted an impressive 66.2% completion percentage last season. The quarterback also used his legs quite a bit during his time at Mississippi State as he rushed for 2,521 total yards and 41 total touchdowns during his college career.
The Steelers certainly appear to be open to drafting a quarterback this year, however, if they are indeed hoping to select Prescott, they would likely have to do so in either the third or fourth round.
At the end of the 2015 season, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin refused to say whether or not quarterback Landry Jones would be the team’s back-up in 2016. Jones, who had started the 2015 regular season as the third-string quarterback behind Mike Vick, assumed the No. 2 spot after he led the team to win over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 6 after a hamstring injury forced Vick from that game early in the second half.
As far as Vick goes, he and fellow Steelers veteran backup quarterback Bruce Gradkowski are both officially unrestricted free agents. While Vick is not expected to be re-signed, there’s a chance that Gradkowski might be brought back later in the offseason depending on how the rest of free agency and the draft goes. Gradkowski missed the entire 2015 season due to a shoulder injury.
It will be interesting to see if Prescott winds up being brought in for a pre-draft visit next month as the team is allowed 30 such visits. As previously reported, Prescott will be featured on Jon Gruden’s Quarterback Camp on ESPN next month.
UPDATE: According to Aditi Kinkhabwala of the NFL Network, Steelers quarterbacks coach Randy Fichtner was also spotted at the Mississippi State pro day on Thursday and perhaps he was the scout Robertson is referring to.
