ESPN’s Peter Schrager released his annual mock draft based on what he’s hearing from people around the league, and with the No. 21 pick in the first round, Schrager had the Steelers taking Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders.
“I know Sanders had a good meeting in Pittsburgh when he visited a few weeks back. I also know the Steelers still don’t have a QB1 on their roster. This might be viewed as a “slip” down the board for Sanders. He could go anywhere from No. 3 to the Giants to the second round. Going to Pittsburgh here as the second quarterback in the class wouldn’t be so bad,” Schrager wrote.
With Miami’s Cam Ward going No. 1, Schrager has the Giants taking Penn State’s Abdul Carter at No. 3 and the New Orleans Saints taking Georgia EDGE Mykel Williams at No. 9. Both of those teams passing on Sanders leads to a slide to No. 21, where the Steelers draft their potential quarterback of the future.
In this scenario, the Steelers pass on Oregon DL Derrick Harmon, who wasn’t selected in the first round, and Michigan DL Kenneth Grant, who went one pick later, to the Los Angeles Chargers at No. 22.
With uncertainty surrounding Aaron Rodgers and a quarterback room that right now only has Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson, it wouldn’t be completely shocking if the Steelers took a quarterback in the first round. They still could take a defensive lineman in the first, but there’s been growing buzz about them potentially taking a quarterback.
However, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has repeatedly reported that a first-round quarterback would only come if the top defensive linemen were off the board, and in this case, Pittsburgh would have its choice of Harmon or Grant, although Harmon could reportedly fall due to medical concerns. He did come in for a pre-draft visit with the Steelers, and it would be an interesting decision for the team to make if it came down to Harmon or Sanders.
Still, Mike Tomlin spoke highly of Sanders during the team’s pre-draft press conference yesterday, and Omar Khan mentioned multiple times that he thinks it is a strong quarterback class. If the team really believes it’s a good quarterback class, passing on the player who’s widely regarded as the No. 2 quarterback in the class would certainly be hard to fathom.
And based off his intel, Schrager seems to think Shedeur Sanders has a good chance of landing with Pittsburgh.
