With the 2025 NFL Draft almost at our doorstep, the mock drafts are flying fast and furious. Analysts are trying to glean every last bit of information they can before trying to connect the dots as best as possible. Analyst Bucky Brooks just dropped his latest mock draft for NFL.com on Tuesday afternoon. And he went with the hot hand, selecting Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Shedeur Sanders is arguably the most discussed player in the upcoming draft. Will he go top five or top 10? Will he even slide out of the first round? No one is quite certain at this point. But it’s getting easier to connect the dots between the Steelers and Sanders.
“Mike Tomlin could view Sanders as the perfect quarterback for his squad,” wrote Brooks. “With his confidence, moxie, and pinpoint passing skills, the Colorado star might ignite a dormant offense that has already added some star power this offseason.”
The Steelers certainly need a quarterback. They only have two on the roster, and neither of them is in contention to be Pittsburgh’s next franchise quarterback. The team has said repeatedly that they want four quarterbacks this offseason, so that checks one box.
But do the Steelers view Shedeur Sanders as a potential franchise quarterback? No one in the front office will come out and directly say that before the draft. However, the Steelers brought Sanders in for a pre-draft visit, and head coach Mike Tomlin certainly had good things to say about Sanders when he talked at his pre-draft press conference on Tuesday.
Some of the things Tomlin praised Sanders for are the things Brooks points out, or at least equivalents to. Tomlin mentioned Sanders’ “competitive spirit” and toughness—it sounds like confidence and moxie. He also talked about Sanders being talented and making plays for Colorado, which lines up with Brooks’ passing comment.
Remember, Shedeur Sanders led the entire FBS with a 74 percent completion percentage in 2024. And that’s with 477 passing attempts with 8.7 yards per attempt. Sanders was an incredible quarterback in 2024. And he wasn’t a one-year wonder like the quarterback many Steelers fans are comparing him to, Kenny Pickett. Sanders was also one of the most accurate deep-ball passers in the country in 2024, posting a top-20 completion percentage. That would marry well with wide receivers like George Pickens and DK Metcalf, the latter being part of the added star power Brooks referenced.
There are two problems facing the Steelers at this point. Do they believe that Shedeur Sanders is responsible for a lot of his sacks? Because he took a lot of sacks in college. Part of that is that Colorado’s offensive line was not good at all. Now, longtime college offensive coordinator David Yost thinks that Sanders’ experience playing with a bad offensive line actually gives him a leg up on other quarterbacks.
The other problem is that the Steelers are picking 21st. That’s a lot of picks where a team can snag Sanders before the Steelers. But that is largely out of the Steelers’ control. They don’t really have the ammunition to trade up to get Sanders in a big draft-day move.
But Brooks doesn’t think that will be necessary. And if he’s right, the Steelers might just come away from the 2025 NFL Draft with a potential answer to their quarterback problems in Shedeur Sanders.
