Going into the NFL draft, the biggest question with the Pittsburgh Steelers is if they’ll take a quarterback in the first round. They’ve shown a lot of interest in the top prospects. Recently, they’ve been heavily connected to Shedeur Sanders. His draft day should be interesting to follow as well. It sounds like he could go as high as the third overall pick or fall to the Steelers.
Not that the Steelers are necessarily counting on the latter happening.
“The Pittsburgh Steelers, I think they don’t believe he’ll get to 21,” Yahoo! Sports NFL insider Charles Robinson said Monday on The Ken Carman Show on 92.3 The Fan. “I think if he gets to 21, it completely wipes out what their plan is for this draft, and they have to reassess it at 21.”
That lines up with other recent reports. The Steelers don’t expect Sanders to be on the board when they pick. However, it isn’t an impossibility. While quarterbacks usually come at a premium in the draft, this class is weaker than most others.
As a result, Sanders could suffer a slide on draft day. It seems like he could make to the Steelers’ pick at 21, if another team doesn’t trade up in front of them. That might be the biggest obstacle keeping Sanders from coming to Pittsburgh. A team near the bottom of the first round, or at the top of the second round could move in front of the Steelers to select Sanders.
Unfortunately, the Steelers aren’t in a great position to move up. They don’t have a second-round pick due to the DK Metcalf trade. They lack the proper ammo to move up and stop Sanders’ potential slide. If it becomes a bidding war, the Steelers might be in trouble.
However, Sanders falling to the Steelers wouldn’t be the craziest thing to ever happen during the draft. In 2005, Aaron Rodgers was projected to be the first player selected. However, he fell all the way to the Green Bay Packers, who held the 24th pick. Lamar Jackson, an athletic freak, fell to the very last pick in the first round in 2018.
Quarterbacks with more potential than Sanders have fallen further before. While it’s unlikely that he’d available for the Steelers, they should be prepared if that happens. Although the Steelers have other huge needs, it might be tough to pass on a potential franchise quarterback. If the Steelers really like Sanders, taking him could be worth totally changing their draft strategy.
