Daniel Jeremiah held the NFL Network’s annual draft Q&A session with local members of the media Friday, an exhaustive, 90+ minute session with Jeremiah offering a slew of answers. One of which regarded the quarterbacks who fit what the Pittsburgh Steelers are looking for.
Jeremiah zeroed in on two quarterbacks who fit the bill: Liberty’s Malik Willis and Ole Miss’ Matt Corral.
Willis has become arguably the most popular name linked to the Steelers and was Jeremiah’s selection in his latest mock draft. An athletic playmaker who originally played at Auburn, Willis transferred to Liberty and flourished in 2021, throwing for 27 touchdowns and leading the Flames to an 8-5 record and bowl victory. He performed well at the Senior Bowl, flashing his legs, velocity, ability to thrive in the rain and helped answer smaller-school concerns.
“That’s why I think I had Malik Willis going to the Steelers in that one,” Jeremiah said in a transcript of Willis during one part of his conference call. “He’s the one where, okay, yeah, there’s risk involved with any of these quarterbacks, but he provides the upside to warrant taking the risk.”
Willis is regarded as the biggest reward quarterback of this class, drawing comparisons to the Eagles’ Jalen Hurts, though Willis is regarded to have a stronger arm. Like Hurts, Willis may need to sit for a season to work on his lower body mechanics but he has the upside to be a dynamic starter in the league.
Jeremiah later mentioned Corral, a forgotten name in this class.
“We haven’t really talked about Corral much on this call, but he’s intriguing because he’s a little undersized, but really, really athletic. Everything is quick: Quick feet, quick release, quick eyes.
He can give them some of the athleticism it looks like from listening that’s something they’re really after, and that’s why you hear Willis’ name mentioned. Corral is not as big, not as strong, but he can probably throw it a little bit better, a little more consistently at this point in time, and he does give you some of that athleticism to be able to move around.
So the more you kind of look at the Steelers and what they’re looking for, maybe Matt Corral is one of those names you could pay attention to.”
Corral suffered a leg injury in the team’s bowl game and as an underclassman who hadn’t graduated, he was the lone top quarterback ineligible for the Senior Bowl. As Jeremiah mentioned, his frame (a listed 6’2 205) is a concern but he’s in the mix along with Willis and Kenny Pickett to be in the top 20 discussion.
Jeremiah concluded his answer to mention the Steelers’ need to upgrade their offensive line too, especially if players like RG Trai Turner and RT Chukwuma Okorafor hit free agency. He praised Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum and Texas A&M OG Kenyon Green as among the best interior linemen in this class while also talking up the strength of this tackle class overall.
