Steelers Now
The Pittsburgh Steelers are once again heading into an offseason of uncertainty at the quarterback position. And with it being a weak quarterback draft class, a long-term solution likely will have to wait until 2026.
Colin Cowherd of FS1 thinks the Steelers have no one but themselves to blame for being stuck in quarterback purgatory.
“This is all on the Steelers. When Ben was aging, they drafted Mason Rudolph. Ben didn’t like it, and they were like ‘Okay, we don’t wanna offend Ben.’ Get over it. By the time it was too late, it was a terrible quarterback class, and you reached on Kenny Pickett, who I was told was a third-round pick,” Cowherd said on The Herd. “This is all the Steelers. With a defensive culture, spending all their money on the defensive side of the ball. Now they look up and they’ve got two C-plus quarterbacks.”
Cowherd makes a valid point, as Roethlisberger was clearly on the decline late in his career and they failed to have a smooth transition plan.
The Steelers could have drafted Super Bowl-winning quarterback Jalen Hurts in the second round (No. 53 overall) in 2020, but they picked wide receiver Chase Claypool at 48th overall instead. Of course, hindsight is 20/20, but the Steelers could have landed their next franchise quarterback. Hurts even thought he was going to Pittsburgh.
“I know Pittsburgh had maybe the 48th pick or 40 something. Their first pick was in the second round and I thought I was going to Pittsburgh,” Hurts said on the “New Heights” podcast. “So when I saw PA, I’m like, ‘Oh, this is Pittsburgh.’”
The Steelers felt like they were in contention for a Super Bowl, and adding a receiver provided Roethlisberger with another weapon. For sure, judging by how he reacted to the Mason Rudolph pick in 2018, Roethlisberger probably would have not been pleased if the Steelers selected Hurts in the second round.
“I had no idea I would come here. I had no idea,” Hurts said. “I had an interview with them at the draft, like an official interview. From the interview, I didn’t think I was going to be an Eagle.”
That has likely left the Steelers kicking themselves and thinking what could have been.
Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe also recently ripped head coach Mike Tomlin and the Steelers for not having a smooth transition plan at QB.
“When Ben was getting old, not the last year, but when Ben was getting old, did they go out and get another quarterback,” Sharpe asked on his “Nightcap” podcast. “When [Brett] Favre was getting old, what did the Packers do? They went and got [Aaron] Rodgers. When Rodgers was getting old, what did they do? They went out and got Jordan Love. When Ben Roethlisberger was getting old, what did they do? They let him wither on the vine. That’s Tomlin.”
