Although the Pittsburgh Steelers just spent the 2024 offseason tearing down and rebuilding their quarterback room, ESPN’s Jordan Reid sees the overhaul as a short-term bridge instead of a long-term answer. In his way-too-early 2025 mock draft released Thursday morning, he has the Steelers selecting Texas QB Quinn Ewers 12th overall, a selection he even admits is higher than where the league currently projects.
“Ewers is still inconsistent with ball placement and downfield accuracy, but he has all the traits you’d want in an NFL quarterback, and another season in Steve Sarkisian’s offense could help catapult his development,” Reid writes. “This is a bit of a projection — scouts had Day 3 grades on Ewers for the 2024 class before he decided to return to school — but there is potential here.”
If you’re curious how he came up with the draft order, Reid used the inverse of ESPN’s BET Super Bowl odds. Pick number aside, Ewers had an overall strong 2023 season and has played a key role in turning the Texas program around. In 2021, the year before he started, the school finished just 5-7. In 2022, the Longhorns improved to 8-5 and last season, they went 12-2, making the College Football Playoff before narrowly losing to Washington.
For the season, Ewers completed 69 percent of his passes for 3,479 yards, 22 touchdowns and six interceptions. He rushed for another five scores. His top performances came a in blowout of Oklahoma State, throwing four touchdowns and 452 yards, and a statement win against Alabama, throwing three for scores and no interceptions to give the Crimson Tide their first home loss since Joe Burrow and LSU knocked them off in 2019.
Reid’s not the first this week to connect Ewers and the Steelers. The Athletic’s Dane Brugler had the same pick in his mock draft released Tuesday.
The 2025 quarterback class is messy right now without clear frontrunners. Top names include Georgia’s Carson Beck, Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders (son of Deion), and Penn State’s Drew Allar among others. But there doesn’t appear to be a can’t-miss prospect the way there was with USC’s Caleb Williams this year and though early, it’d be a stretch to think six quarterbacks will go in the top 12 picks as was the case in 2024.
For Pittsburgh, its goal is to find a long-term answer between Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. But both come with their own set of question marks; Wilson’s age and declining mobility, Fields’ wildly inconsistent nature. As Reid notes, the Steelers don’t have a veteran quarterback under contract past 2024 and if things go sideways during the season, the team could be looking to again start all over next offseason.
Reid’s mock has the New York Giants trading up for Beck as the No. 1 overall selection of the 2025 draft. Georgia EDGE Mykel Williams goes at No. 2 with LSU OT Will Campbell the third overall pick.
