Good decisions are only made with good information, and the pre-draft process is all about collecting good information. Once all of the information is collected, NFL teams go through a series of mock draft scenarios to be prepared for any possibility. As the Steelers began working through those, it’s possible they started to ask themselves the same question that many of us are currently asking ourselves. What if Shedeur Sanders falls all the way to No. 21?
Ian Rapoport briefly talked about Sanders’ visit with the Steelers this morning on Good Morning Football and the possibility of him falling in the draft.
“There’s, I would say, a strong possibility—maybe, who knows, it’s the draft— that Shedeur Sanders goes earlier than the Steelers,” Rapoport said. “And so the Pittsburgh Steelers asked to meet with Shedeur Sanders, and he agreed because there is in some form or fashion a possibility that if he slides past three, he could potentially be there.”
Sanders is his own person, but his father famously didn’t want to schedule pre-draft visits with any teams outside of the top five unless they were interested in trading for him. That is the level of confidence that the Sanders brand is typically associated with. The very fact that Shedeur Sanders is taking the visit must mean he has at least some thought of being available at No. 21, or at least close enough to be within reasonable trade range.
Art Rooney II made it clear in his first media appearance of the offseason that the Steelers would be looking for a quarterback in either this draft or the next. With Aaron Rodgers still stringing the team along, it’s impossible to ignore the possibility of a quarterback in Round 1.
The Steelers have met with nearly every quarterback prospect at this point. Sanders, Jaxson Dart, Jalen Milroe, Quinn Ewers, Kyle McCord, Tyler Shough and Will Howard are all players who have had pre-draft visits or Pro Day meetings with the team. The interest is far beyond due diligence or practice for the 2026 evaluation process. The interest is real.
“They still could draft Shedeur Sanders if he falls in their lap because Rodgers is not a long-term solution,” Rapoport said. “He is, at best, a short-term, one-year solution. So if Sanders falls to them, they’ll be ready. Still would be a little bit of a surprise just based on his talent if it happens.”
It seemed unlikely in 2022 that the Steelers would have their pick of the litter in the quarterback class, yet they ended up being the only team to take one on the first day with Kenny Pickett. There are reasons to believe that the New York Giants and Cleveland Browns could go in a different direction. If they do, then the fall is on.
