There’s been a lot of smoke lately about Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders falling in the 2025 NFL Draft. With a need at quarterback, the Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 21 overall have been tabbed as a potential landing spot. Appearing on The PM Team on 93.7 The Fan, CBS draft analyst Ryan Wilson said that if Sanders falls to Pittsburgh it would be a “pretty easy choice.”
“I think Shedeur at 21, it feels like a pretty easy choice to me, and a choice that I would feel better about as someone who spent a lot of time with this draft class than Jaxson Dart at 21.”
However, Wilson cautioned that if the Steelers do take Sanders or a quarterback, the hit rate is lower and that they could pass up on a better player like Michigan DT Kenneth Grant.
“If you’re asking me who’s gonna be the better player in five years, Kenneth Grant, the defensive tackle, or a quarterback, I would probably lean Kenneth Grant because you know the type of consistency you’re gonna get and it’s so hard to project what these quarterbacks are gonna be at the next level.”
A first-round quarterback has been a popular choice for Pittsburgh in mock drafts, although Wilson has the team selecting Ole Miss DL Walter Nolen in his three-round mock draft. He had Sanders going No. 2 to the Cleveland Browns, but said on 93.7 that there’s been buzz that Sanders could fall beyond the top three picks, leaving his most likely first-round options as the New Orleans Saints at No. 9 and Pittsburgh.
Without Aaron Rodgers signed, the quarterback remains a need for the Steelers, but the defensive line also has holes that the team needs to fill, especially with Cameron Heyward going into the 2025 season at 36 years old. After the Baltimore Ravens ran for 299 yards against the Steelers in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs, addressing defensive line would seem to be Pittsburgh’s priority, but if Sanders does fall, he could be too intriguing to pass up.
Per Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sanders is coming to Pittsburgh for a pre-draft visit on Thursday, which only will fuel more fire to the idea that he could be Pittsburgh’s first-round pick. Even if they sign Rodgers, Sanders could sit behind him and develop and take over as the Steelers’ quarterback of the future.
It’s undoubtedly a risk, though, as it always is when a team drafts a first-round quarterback. But with the Steelers have no long-term outlook at the position, they may value drafting Sanders if they feel he can be a future starter. For much of the pre-draft process, he’s been looked at as a potential top-three pick, and falling to 21 could represent good value for the Steelers.
They’ll have to weigh the value of taking a developmental quarterback over an impact defensive lineman like Grant, but first Shedeur Sanders has to fall to the Steelers in late April and then they’ll decide whether it’s an easy choice for them or not.
