One way or another, the Pittsburgh Steelers have to get better at the quarterback position. The most common way that teams get out of quarterback purgatory is via the draft, and so we can probably expect the Steelers to dip back into that well over the next year or two.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler interviewed league execs to get their opinion on various quarterback situations around the league, and one unnamed scouting director thinks the Steelers will be looking high in the draft this year.
“I still think this could go either way,” the scouting director said via Jeremy Fowler. “Part of me feels like they bring back Russell. Either way, I expect them to draft a quarterback fairly high. They need someone who can be the answer long term.”
Regardless of which quarterback is brought back, the Steelers need to have one eye on the future of the position. There is nothing wrong with doing what the Atlanta Falcons or Minnesota Vikings did last offseason. They brought in a veteran to pair with a high draft pick.
For the Vikings, the veteran worked out while the draft pick got injured. For the Falcons, the veteran played poorly and made way for the draft pick to enter the starting lineup. Both teams appear to be in a better spot than they were at quarterback this time last year as a result.
What happens between Fields and Wilson will just need to play itself out. If Fields gets several offers that drive his price up, the Steelers could be forced to bring back Wilson with a lack of other good options out there. They could also end up bringing back Fields and starting him. While he showed progress last year, the vast majority of quarterbacks with over 40 career starts don’t suddenly become franchise quarterbacks in the fifth season of their career. Adding competition with a high draft pick would only help the Steelers’ situation.
The issue is that this draft class is viewed as weak at the position. Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward are seen as the top two, and they might end up being the only first-round QBs this year.
Will Howard helped himself during Ohio State’s CFP championship run, and there will be some teams intrigued by guys like Dillon Gabriel and Jalen Milroe. There are plenty of quarterbacks with the type of mobility that Mike Tomlin covets, but are any of them good enough passers to be an upgrade over Fields?
The pre-draft process will help sort some of this out. The Steelers hold the No. 21 pick in the draft, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to address the quarterback position. As Mike Tomlin pointed out, Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts weren’t taken at the top of the draft. And teams like the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills found their guys by trading up in years where their initial picks were in roughly the same spot as Pittsburgh this year.
