NFL Draft preview: Steelers among NFL teams putting quarterbacks under microscope

Quarterback was the least of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ concerns a year ago heading into the NFL Draft.

They had three veterans under contract, including a Super Bowl champion and a first-round pick trying to invigorate his career.

But with all three passers on one-year contracts, the Steelers knew the situation would be different in 2025.

And, to no surprise, it is.

For the second year in a row, the quarterback room won’t retain anyone from the previous season and, as the draft approaches, the Steelers have only Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson under contract.

Whether Aaron Rodgers accepts their offer, signs elsewhere or heads into retirement, the position remains firmly on the Steelers’ radar. It’s just a question of whether the Steelers select one on the first, second or third day of the draft process.

“It doesn’t appear to be devoid of talent,” coach Mike Tomlin said of this year’s QB class. “I like a lot of the guys that I’ve met, not only their tangible qualities, but their intangible qualities. I’m feeling really good about the trajectory of the group and how we’re going to place them on the board.”

The Steelers have conducted formal or informal visits with most of the draft-eligible quarterbacks. That included top-30 visits with Shedeur Sanders, Jaxson Dart and Tyler Shough and a scheduled one with Kyle McCord. In a one-week span, they scouted Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard, Texas’ Quinn Ewers and Ohio State’s Will Howard. They also met with Alabama’s Jalen Milroe at his pro day.

“It’s getting a complete totality of the process,” Tomlin said, “getting exposure to these guys in as many places as we can.”

The Steelers haven’t put this much work into quarterback evaluation since 2022, the draft following Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement. They selected Kenny Pickett in the first round that year. Two years later, Pickett was traded to Philadelphia, another in a long list of quarterbacks taken from the Class of ’22 that couldn’t stick with their original team.

As fate would have it, the Steelers’ dive back into the quarterback draft market coincides with a group that is considered only slightly better than the one headed by Pickett. It certainly won’t be a repeat of last year when quarterbacks were taken with the first three picks and six of the top 12.

NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah has Ward rated the same as Bo Nix, who went No. 12 to Denver and was Jeremiah’s fifth-rated quarterback entering the draft. Sanders would be his eighth-best quarterback if the 2024-25 classes were combined.

Dart also could go in the first round based on recent workouts. Milroe will attend the draft in Green Bay in person, an indication that some talent evaluators believe he could be picked in the first round. Shough carries a second-day grade but also could sneak into the top round.

“All those guys have different strengths and weaknesses,” Jeremiah said. “They’re all intriguing type players. To me, they’re more ideally guys you would love to get in the third round. I think Dart will be long gone by then, but I think the rest of the guys, that’s more the range that I have them.”

The intrigue will come after Ward is taken, presumably by Tennessee with the first overall pick. He excelled in one season at Miami after spending two years at Washington State and two at Incarnate Word, an FCS school.

“It’s rare to see a guy come that far and be the No. 1 guy,” ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said. “That has been the trend, guys emerging that final year thanks to staying in college.”

Cleveland has quarterback issues but could wait until the second round to get one. The New York Giants were in the market until they signed free agents Jameis Winston and former Steeler Russell Wilson.

Sanders, once projected to be a top-three pick, could slide to New Orleans at No. 9 or, as some draftniks have speculated, to the Steelers at No. 21. The chance to get perhaps the second-best passer in this class is a reason the Steelers brought him in for a visit. Still, his availability there remains a long shot.

“I can’t imagine Shedeur not going top 10 at the end of the day,” said former Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum, an analyst for ESPN.

Some analysts have pegged Dart as an option for the Steelers in the first round. But with a glaring weakness at defensive tackle — and the class loaded with prospects at that position — the Steelers may be inclined to wait until the third round, at the earliest, to get a quarterback.

It’s just a matter of which quarterbacks will still be around for the Steelers, who sent their second-round pick to Seattle in the trade for wide receiver DK Metcalf.

“I would never force the issue at quarterback if I didn’t absolutely love the player,” ESPN analyst Field Yates said.

Milroe was considered a second-day lock until his recent invitation to attend the draft festivities. He had 20 rushing touchdowns and 726 yards on the ground last season for Alabama and is viewed as the best running quarterback in the draft.

“It’s an accuracy issue,” Kiper Jr. said. “He could be really good, but if he doesn’t fix that, he’ll be a bust, a running quarterback in packages. He won’t be a successful starting quarterback unless his accuracy improves and seeing the field improves as well.”

Shough has prototypical size for a quarterback at 6-foot-5, 219 pounds. But he was in college for seven seasons and turns 26 in September. After having three seasons at Texas Tech limited by injuries, he stayed healthy in his lone season at Louisville and had 23 touchdown passes against six interceptions.

“He wasn’t that ‘wow’ of a performer, but he makes the throws,” Kiper said. “The talent is there. If you could draw up a quarterback from a physical standpoint, it would be Tyler Shough.”