By most accounts, the pre-draft visit between Shedeur Sanders and the Pittsburgh Steelers went swimmingly last week. Sanders described the meeting as “a 10” (out of 10) and Todd McShay later reported that Mike Tomlin really likes him after the roughly five-hour meeting that took place.
Fast forward to yesterday and KPRC’s Aaron Wilson reported that the visit didn’t go well and that the Steelers would not be selecting Sanders as a result. Sportskeeda’s Tony Pauline is hearing more of the positive when it comes Sanders and the Steelers.
“I’m told that head coach Mike Tomlin really likes Sanders, sees his potential, and is in favor of drafting the CU quarterback,” Pauline wrote via Sportskeeda. “Though I was not directly told that Tomlin would pound the table for Sanders, it seems he’ll advocate for the signal-caller once Pittsburgh is called to the clock, assuming he’s available.”
That makes two positive reports from different outlets that seem to strongly indicate Mike Tomlin is a fan of Sanders as a potential quarterback solution in Pittsburgh. It’s entirely possible that what Wilson heard was also true, but from the perspective of somebody else other than Tomlin within the building.
Decision makers are split on things all the time behind closed doors. Most recently we saw that with the reporting on the Justin Fields and Russell Wilson decision leading up to free agency.
For what it’s worth, Adam Schefter took a broader approach with his reporting when he said Tuesday the Steelers were impressed with Sanders during his podcast.
It’s always hard this time of year to know which information to trust, but there seems to be a growing consensus that Tomlin is a fan of Sanders. If that’s the case, we all know how much influence he has within the organization if the Steelers have a chance to draft Sanders.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette insider Gerry Dulac recently wrote during one of his reader chats that Tomlin has “more say” in the decision-making process than he did with Kevin Colbert. If Tomlin is on board, we could absolutely see Sanders become the Steelers’ first-round pick.
Whether or not he falls is a different story, but that seems more and more likely by the day.
