With the NFL Draft just days away, the Pittsburgh Steelers don’t have much talent in their quarterback room. They’re waiting on Aaron Rodgers, and while he could still end up a Steeler, Mason Rudolph would be the starter if the season began tomorrow. With that in mind, several quarterbacks from the 2025 class could be on Pittsburgh’s radar. Those include names like Shedeur Sanders, Jalen Milroe, Jaxson Dart, and Will Howard.
Former Steelers’ QB Ben Roethlisberger knows a thing or two about playing the position at a high level. During his Footbahlin podcast, posted on Tuesday, he was asked which QBs from the 2025 class would be best for the Steelers. Dart and Howard were two names he pointed out.
“I watched him play a few games, and I really liked what I saw from Jaxson Dart, out of Ole Miss,” Roethlisberger said. “It just seems like he’s got a gunslinger mentality. He can run. There’s just something there… Man, he can just make the ugly look good… There’s just some things where I was really impressed how he could play the game.”
If the Steelers want to take a QB in the first round, Dart feels like the most likely option. There’s a chance Sanders could be there at No. 21, but it feels like a better chance that Dart will be. The Steelers reportedly have a first-round grade on Dart, so he’s a name to keep in mind.
Dart’s an intriguing prospect. Roethlisberger refers to him as a ‘gunslinger’, and that’s not a bad way to describe him. Working in Lane Kiffin’s offense at Ole Miss, Dart had plenty of chances to show off that arm. However, some also consider that offense to be a drawback. Kiffin’s system caters to quarterbacks, but doesn’t ask them to do too much. Thus, Dart’s received criticism, with some calling him a one-read QB.
Dart is an option, but it doesn’t look especially likely that the Steelers will select him in the first round.
Roethlisberger had praise for Howard as well.
“I really like the kid Will Howard from Ohio State,” Roethlisberger said. “I just think he’s a winner.”
If Pittsburgh doesn’t take a quarterback in the first round, Howard is a player to watch during Day 2. One thing Roethlisberger likes about Howard is how he was able to bounce back from adversity in 2024.
“I think a lot of guys would just kind of like, crumble at that,” Roethlisberger said. “Like you let your team down, you let the guys down… What did he end up doing? They didn’t lose another game… To me, that’s a winner. That’s a guy who made a mistake… And he ends up running the table and winning the National Championship.”
Roethlisberger is referring to Ohio State’s first meeting with Oregon. Needing a field goal to take the lead, Howard scrambled as time expired, trying to put his team in field goal range. He ended up sliding too late and ran out the clock, ending the game.
It was no surprise that he took a lot of slack for that. Yet, he looked much better as the season went on. Howard led Ohio State to a national title and destroyed Oregon in the process in what felt like an act of revenge. His growth throughout the 2024 season is why many, including Roethlisberger, are high on him.
It’s hard to get a sense of who the Steelers will actually take during the draft. They might not even take a quarterback at all. If they do, Dart and Howard are possible candidates, and it sounds like Roethlisberger is high on both.
