With the Pittsburgh Steelers losing Justin Fields in free agency, many draft experts have been examining the possibility of them drafting a quarterback as early as the first round in the 2025 NFL Draft. Bucky Brooks becomes the latest expert to mock QB Jaxson Dart to the Steelers at No. 21 overall.
“If Pittsburgh cannot land Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson, the Ole Miss product would give the Steelers a future starter to develop behind Mason Rudolph,” Brooks wrote via NFL.com.
Opinions are all over the place on Dart, though most seem to agree that he will be the third quarterback off the board. In a draft class where people think none of the top quarterbacks would have beat out any of the six first-round picks at the position last year, being the third team to take a quarterback off the board seems like risky business.
In a world where Rodgers ends up signing elsewhere or retiring, I suppose the Steelers would have to think long and hard about making this move. They don’t have a second-round pick and some of the other quarterbacks will likely be taken in the second round, so it would be first round or bust for potentially landing an impact player. For what it’s worth, all signs currently point to Rodgers choosing the Steelers.
I think there is a legitimate argument to be made on whether Dart is even the third-best QB in the class. Some will be attracted to the physical tools of a player like Jalen Milroe or the pedigree of a player like Will Howard instead. It would just depend on who the Steelers covet. For what it’s worth, they’ve brought in Tyler Shough for a pre-draft visit and the P-G’s Gerry Dulac has reported their interest in both Dart and Howard. If they do have a strong preference, it would be in their best interest to hold their cards close to their chest.
Our Alex Kozora wrote Dart’s scouting report earlier in the offseason and graded him as a fifth-round pick.
“Overall, Dart does a lot of things well. And Kudos to him for being tough and a gamer,” Kozora wrote. “He’ll earn the respect of the locker room in no time. But there aren’t a lot of things he does great. Not much that wows.”
That doesn’t inspire a ton of confidence to make him the Steelers’ first-round pick. Without a second-round pick, they really can’t afford to miss.
Dart led the SEC in completion percentage, passing yards, and passer efficiency rating last season. He completed 276 of his 398 attempts for 4,279 yards, 29 TDs and six INTs as Ole Miss narrowly missed the first expanded College Football Playoffs.
I don’t know if you’ve seen how talented that roster was and how many players are set to get drafted over the first two days from Ole Miss, but it doesn’t exactly bode well for Dart that he couldn’t elevate the Rebels to being a national championship contender with what he had to work with.
