Mark Madden: Steelers would be better served drafting a quarterback in 2023

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin was at various college pro days making goo-goo eyes at quarterbacks.

Liberty’s Malik Willis made Tomlin “giddy,” it was reported. Willis and Tomlin had dinner. Tomlin ate wings, just like a regular guy. (Then again, wings cost as much as steak right now.)

Tomlin was said to be “riveted” by the performance of Ole Miss’ Matt Corral. Ordinarily, of course, Tomlin barely pays attention. Sometimes he nods off.

Tomlin has always attended pro days. He’s always watched intently. He’s always taken potential draft picks out to dinner. None of that just started being part of his job.

But with Ben Roethlisberger not involved for the first time since 2004, the passion of the quarterback gets acted out nonstop despite the signing of free agent Mitch Trubisky. We analyzed Tomlin’s reaction to every pass at the pro days, never mind the actual throws.

It’s the only topic in town on radio shows like mine, but not mine, although I indulge it more than I should. I’m ashamed, but not as much as others should be but aren’t.

One would think that Trubisky inking a two-year deal puts the situation on hold through the 2022 season, and here’s betting it does.

Trubisky starts for one season, maybe two. The Steelers get their presumed long-term successor in next year’s draft, which will be flush with top quarterbacks. The torch gets passed during the 2023 season.

It’s likely the Steelers could draft a better quarterback next year than this. Willis might be a second-rounder if he were in next year’s draft.

If you take a quarterback with the 20th pick in this year’s draft, that seems to accelerate Trubisky’s trip to the pay-no-mind list.

If that’s the case, it would have made more sense to use Mason Rudolph as the bridge quarterback. (That might have made more sense, anyway.)

If you take a quarterback this year, fans will call for him the minute Trubisky has a bad game. Or half. Or quarter. Or pass. “LET THE KID PLAY! WHY’D YOU DRAFT HIM?” (That’s going to happen at some point anyway.)

The Steelers don’t know how to do this because they haven’t done it since 2004. Tomlin has never done it.

It’s more immediately impactful to take, say, a defensive lineman from Georgia. Some have said that Stephon Tuitt wants to play after missing the entirety of last season. But Tuitt hasn’t.

The Steelers have lots of holes: Defensive line. Safety. They need depth all over, not least at inside linebacker, edge rusher, cornerback, wide receiver and running back.

Draft a quarterback now, and you put another dagger in your hopes for the upcoming season. You’re taking a player that won’t pay instant dividends instead of one who would.

Perhaps that’s realistic. The Steelers aren’t nearly as good as Cincinnati. Baltimore and Cleveland seem better, too. Use big-picture thinking.

But the best move seems drafting a quarterback in 2023 when Ohio’s State C.J. Stroud and Alabama’s Bryce Young will lead a deep pack of draftable signal-callers that also includes Phil Jurkovec, the Pine-Richland High School grad who plays for Boston College.

If you’re 4-13 this coming season, so much the better. It would be far preferable to going 7-10, or even last season’s 9-7-1.

Finishing 4-13 last season probably gets you Pitt’s Kenny Pickett, which would make us all giddy. Tanking the 2019 season after Roethlisberger got hurt instead of trading the next draft’s first-round pick for safety Minkah Fitzpatrick to stupidly salvage .500 might have brought Justin Herbert to Pittsburgh, which would see the problem long since solved.