Though the Pittsburgh Steelers are setting their sights on a quarterback in free agency, they could be equally focused on the position come the first round of April’s draft. In his latest mock, NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah sent Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart to the Steelers at No. 21. Appearing on The Pat McAfee Show Wednesday, he explained why.
“Pittsburgh at this point in time, if they don’t get Aaron Rodgers, I think they gotta do a lot of homework on these guys,” Jeremiah told the show. “Whether that’s, Dart, Tyler Shough, whoever. I just can’t see them going into the season with just Mason Rudolph as their guy. That’s why I ended up putting Dart there.”
Dart and Louisville’s Tyler Shough have received more pre-draft buzz and boost than any other quarterback. Dart entered the offseason as a mid-round option, a potential third-round pick jockeying for positioning as a Tier 2/3 quarterback. Injured for much of his seven-year college career, Shough was completely off the media’s radar.
Draftniks have caught up to the NFL, now considering Dart a first rounder while Shough could be the fourth quarterback off the board. A gritty gamer, Dart is tough with a combination of athleticism and arm talent but will need to speed up his processing and learn to read NFL defenses after coming from a simplified college scheme. Shough can throw off-platform, and the ball comes out with zip but isn’t an anticipatory thrower and hasn’t played a ton of football despite turning 25 later this year.
“He reminds me of [Jalen Hurts], man,” Jeremiah said. “That’s my comparison, which is kind of off the wall. It’s kind of weird, but with Jalen Hurts, he got better every single year in college. He was athletic, he was smart, he was tough.”
Even if the Steelers land Aaron Rodgers, he’s hardly a long-term solution. That keeps drafting a quarterback squarely in play.
“I don’t how many years that’s going to buy you,” Jeremiah said of Rodgers potentially signing with Pittsburgh.
At most, two years. More likely, just one. Failing to have a young fallback option would leave the Steelers in the same position they sit now: heading into 2026 without a defined starting quarterback. But drafting a rookie in the first round has its downsides. It won’t help the team win now and adding Rodgers would affirm Pittsburgh’s “win-now” desire. And as Kenny Pickett proved, a first-round quarterback comes with no guarantee of success.
