This year, the Pittsburgh Steelers find themselves in an interesting position heading into the draft. Mason Rudolph is slated to be their starting quarterback. That doesn’t inspire much confidence in their chances at competing in the postseason. Aaron Rodgers seems uncertain about what his future holds, so it’s unclear if he’ll ever join the Steelers. That could lead the Steelers to select a quarterback in the first round of the draft. Because of all this uncertainty, Mike Florio believes Omar Khan will be one of the most nervous general managers on draft night.
“I’m gonna go with the guy we heard from earlier in the program, Omar Khan and the Pittsburgh Steelers,” Florio said Wednesday on Pro Football Talk. “They don’t have the ammunition to move around much; they gave up their second-round pick to the Seahawks as part of the DK Metcalf. They need a quarterback desperately, for now and for the future. What’s their evaluation?
“Can they trust their evaluation? Can they implement their evaluation? Will they have a guy there that they want at number 21? Will someone jump them at 20? Are they making a mistake if they have a clear shot at Shedeur Sanders or Jaxson Dart or whoever? They’re in a tough, tough spot to try to address the biggest need that they have that’s been lingering.”
The Steelers seem to be between a rock and a hard place under center. There are many ways things could go wrong for them. No matter how much they improve their team, their ceiling might be capped with Rudolph as their starter.
While the Steelers have made the playoffs with Rudolph starting before, they haven’t won a postseason game. Quarterback play isn’t the only thing that matters, but it is a huge factor. Pittsburgh might continue to come up short against the top AFC teams.
However, they still have a chance to change that. Khan and company could find the Steelers’ next franchise quarterback in this draft. Shedeur Sanders is a name many analysts have attached to the Steelers in Round 1. While he isn’t a perfect prospect, he has the potential to be a quality starter. He would at least give the Steelers a potential future at quarterback.
There’s no guarantee that Sanders will fall to the Steelers’ pick, though. Maybe that will leave Khan as a bundle of nerves. However, the Steelers can still add a decent player, even if they miss out on Sanders.
Although they need a quarterback desperately, the Steelers have other needs that could be addressed in the first round, such as defensive line or running back. They could always land Rodgers, too. If that happens, then any rookie quarterback they have will likely begin their career on the bench. While Khan has plenty of reasons to be nervous, he has just as many to be excited about.
