So far through the first two days of the NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers have stuck to their board and landed two impactful, hole-plugging pieces in Oregon DL Derrick Harmon and Iowa running back Kaleb Johnson.
And yet, despite answering two big questions on the roster, the Steelers are being viewed among the league’s biggest losers coming out of Day 2 of the 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay.
At least, that’s how NFL.com’s Jeffri Chadiha sees it. In a piece highlighting the winners and losers from Day 2, Chadiha highlighted the Steelers as a whole due to how they are handling the quarterback situation, especially after passing on Colorado star quarterback Shedeur Sanders for a second time on Friday night.
“There’s little question about how the Steelers are playing their quarterback situation. They appear to be all-in on the idea of landing Aaron Rodgers, and they don’t seem to even want to give the slightest hint that they’re interested in a younger talent who could play in 2025,” Chadiha writes regarding the Steelers as among the biggest losers so far. “Pittsburgh had plenty of opportunities to draft one in the first and third rounds — they had one selection in each — and passed. That leaves the Steelers with a quarterback depth chart that includes Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson, neither of whom should be taking snaps for this team unless something has gone horribly wrong.
“Pittsburgh just handed all its leverage to Rodgers. Now the Steelers just have to hope he really wants to play football for them this fall.”
The decision to pass on a quarterback so far through two picks isn’t all that surprising, especially when taking into account the comments that team president and owner Art Rooney II made Friday evening before the draft on Steeler Nation Radio, stating that they believe they may get word soon from Rodgers, and believe that he wants to play for the Steelers.
Rooney also stated that if they draft a quarterback this weekend, it will be one that can sit and develop. A guy like Sanders isn’t one that should be sitting all season long, as he’s arguably the most pro-ready quarterback in the class.
It’s not like the Steelers made bad picks, either. Harmon shores up a significant need in the trenches defensively, giving Pittsburgh a building block along the defensive line with Cameron Heyward and Keeanu Benton. Johnson is a perfect fit in offensive coordinator Arthur Smith’s scheme, too.
The Steelers have stated multiple times, too, that they believe in Mason Rudolph, should he have to be the starter. After all, he earned that in 2023, leading the Steelers to three straight wins down the stretch to reach the playoffs. Outside of an interception in the end zone in the Wild Card loss to the Buffalo Bills, he had the Steelers playing well and the Bills on upset alert.
Now, hitching your wagon to a 41-year-old Rodgers doesn’t seem like the greatest plan, but for 2025 alone, it makes sense and gives the Steelers a chance to reach a high ceiling offensively, should everything go right. Outside of maybe Cam Ward, none of the quarterbacks in this draft class would provide that high ceiling in 2025.
Pittsburgh seems focused on the 2026 QB class in the NFL Draft, which will be in the Steel City. Right now, they seem to have a plan. You can’t knock them for that.
