With the Pittsburgh Steelers now having veteran quarterback Ben Roethlisberger secured for the 2021 season, will the team look to the future at the quarterback position in this year’s draft? It’s certainly possible and shouldn’t come as a surprise if they do draft another quarterback this year. If the Steelers don’t select a quarterback in the first round, a consensus seems to be forming that they still might take one in the second round with that player most likely being Florida quarterback Kyle Trask.
In his Saturday morning post on CBS Sport, Jason La Canfora reports that there is a sense among some NFL general managers that the Steelers might very well invest a fairly high draft pick on a quarterback this year. La Canfora goes on to say that the name I he’s hearing the most in the scouting circles that’s being linked to the Steelers is Trask’s because of the seemingly appeal he would have to general manager Kevin Colbert.
“I’ve known Kevin a long time and the more I see of this kid the more I see him in a Steelers uniform,” one general manager has reportedly told La Canfora. “He looks the part.”
So, there you go. I don’t really believe all that hogwash and especially when you consider that La Canfora is the one reporting it, but maybe a lot of you do. My job mainly is to pass this kind of major media stuff along to all of you and then add my two cents to it.
Where does Trask rank overall in the 2021 draft class at the quarterback position? You will probably be hard-pressed to find vert many draftniks that would have in their top five quarterbacks in this year’s draft class as Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, Justin Fields, Trey Lance, and Mac Jones are all seemingly ranked higher than Trask currently is universally. Basically, Trask, at best, will likely be selected somewhere in the second round of this year’s draft.
Regardless of what you or I think about Trask, some comparisons of him to current Steelers backup quarterback Mason Rudolph are already being made this offseason and mostly because of his lack of pocket presence and mobility. For whatever it’s worth, ESPN draftnik Mel Kiper Jr. has Trask as a second-round possibility for the Steelers already this offseason as well.
Personally, I have my doubts that the Steelers would go with Trask in the second round. In my opinion, they will either select one of the top five quarterbacks in the first round of this year’s draft or not select one at all. Remember, the Steelers currently have former first-round quarterback Dwyane Haskins under contract and at worst, he can be their third-stringer in 2021 behind Roethlisberger and Rudolph, who is about to enter the final year of his rookie contract.
Sure, if the Steelers think Trask can legitimately become a franchise quarterback for the Steelers starting in 2022, they should draft him this year. I’m betting, however, that come time that the draft takes place that Colbert and company won’t be thinking that. We shall see.
