Steelers Now
With the Pittsburgh Steelers almost guaranteed to be in the quarterback market again next offseason, I made it a priority to study more prospects than usual during the summer scouting period. The unique thing about the class was just the relative youth in the group, with so many talented passers that simply hadn’t played a ton of snaps in college, making it even more difficult to project the trajectory of each player. Some of the top names on the consensus board have seen their stock fall drastically, and a few newcomers have burst onto the national spotlight. If nothing else, it’s been an interesting start to the draft cycle.
With Mike Tomlin’s club on bye this week, I wanted to get eyes on the bigger names in this class and gauge their progress so far this year. There isn’t a generational talent locked in as the top pick as of right now, but I still believe there are a few passers worth getting excited about, even if they aren’t the same household names that were highly touted several months ago. One housekeeping note before getting into my updated rankings: youngsters such as Texas QB Arch Manning, Michigan State’s Aidan Chiles, and Arizona State’s Sam Leavitt are players that I foresee going back to school for various reasons and thus won’t be included. Without further ado, here we go!
After entering the fall as my QB1, Mendoza has done nothing to relinquish the throne, throwing for 16 touchdowns and just one interception in his first five games as a Hoosier. He’s got the prototypical size you look for in a signal caller, very good overall arm talent, and is a quick decision maker that annihilates defenses that try to heat him up with pressure. Over the first month of the season, he’s taking fewer sacks and isn’t putting the ball in harm’s way, all without sacrificing the aggressiveness down the field. His cover-2 hole shot from the opposite hash against Iowa is as good of a throw as you’re going to see all season long. Indiana’s system is reliant on RPOs and easy button throws for the quarterback, but my hope is that we’ll see him in more true dropback settings as the level of competition rises down the stretch because I’m confident that he can handle more responsibility on his plate.
CAL Committed three penalties to start this drive, but Fernando Mendoza bailed them out a bad spot with an absolute missile on the run.
That's arm arrogance personified. pic.twitter.com/zBsHPo0tpP
— Derrick (@Steelers_DB) May 6, 2025
A couple weeks ago, I wrote about Dante Moore, stating that he was currently playing the quarterback position better than anyone else in college football. That is still true. Last weekend, the junior led Oregon to a massive victory versus Penn State on the road under the lights, highlighted by a few spectacular plays out of structure down the...
