When it comes to the Pittsburgh Steelers and QB Shedeur Sanders, we’re reaching Schrödinger’s Prospect territory. The team both likes and dislikes him, will and will not draft him. They will trade up for him, or won’t draft him in the third round. And, of course, they would have issues with Deion Sanders’ influence—unless they wouldn’t.
As usual, nobody knows anything, but they sure love to discuss it all, anyway. And a lot of people love betting, too, so of course there are odds on the Steelers drafting Shedeur Sanders. Wouldn’t you know, more people are putting money on Pittsburgh doing just that than any other team.
That’s according to Bet MGM, via John Ewing on X. He shared that 28 percent of the money being bet on the team that will draft Sanders is going on the Steelers. Despite having the largest share of real money, they only have the third-highest odds, though.
The Saints’ recent news has them up to +160, and the Browns are still at +250. But the Steelers have third-best odds (+350) to draft Shedeur Sanders over the Giants (+400), who draft third. All of these teams have top-10 picks. In fact, every team with the best odds to draft him is in the top 10 other than the Steelers and the Rams.
Personally, I think the Steelers have the best practical case to draft Sanders. The Browns have too many better prospects at other positions, and they more heavily addressed the position. Kenny Pickett and Flacco aren’t exactly a party, but it’s not Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson. The Giants signed Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston and will have plenty of great options at No. 3. The Jets (+1600) just signed Justin Fields, and the Raiders (+1400) traded for Geno Smith. And after all they went through with Matthew Stafford, why would the Rams (+1800) jump in now?
I could see a very realistic scenario in which no team drafts Sanders before the Steelers’ pick unless they trade up or back. And I’m still not convinced that the Steelers would draft him if he’s sitting there at 21, teed up for them. Now, they might, of course—their need at quarterback is obvious and frequently discussed. But do they believe he is the answer to their long-term problems?
We will hear from the Steelers’ brass in the very near future, but don’t expect them to offer much about Shedeur Sanders. They might offer some platitudes, but we won’t get any better idea of how they rank him. One thing is simple enough, though. If they actually think he is their franchise quarterback, they will draft him. Because there is no need greater in football than a franchise quarterback, and if you don’t have that, you don’t have a contender.
