ClutchPoints
Who will play quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2025?
Will it be Justin Fields, who played fairly well for the Steelers early in the 2024 NFL season? Or how about Russell Wilson, who took the job from Fields but ultimately struggled down the stretch on the way to a brutal loss in the Wildcard Round to the Baltimore Ravens?
Well, in the opinion of ESPN’s Field Yates, it could be Jaxson Dart, the Ole Miss quarterback who blew up at the Senior Bowl and is now the consensus QB3 in this year’s class behind Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders.
Mocking Dart to the Steelers at pick 21, Yates broke down why he felt this was a good selection, as Pittsburgh needs to lock up a top arm long-term.
“Yes, free agents Russell Wilson or Justin Fields could be back. But the Steelers’ pedestrian offense has held them back from playoff success in recent seasons, and Dart had a prolific college career. Over the past two seasons, he has 7,633 passing yards, 51 touchdown throws, and 11 interceptions. He’s a capable thrower to all levels of the field and has enough mobility to operate outside the pocket and on the run,” Yates wrote for ESPN. “Dart also took advantage of Senior Bowl week with a strong showing in front of Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin, who was on the field at each practice. This projection represents a big rise up the board from where Dart currently ranks outside my top 32, but quarterbacks always have a chance to climb, given positional value. Keep an eye on Dart here as we get closer to April.”
Is Yates’ rationale on the money? Could the Steelers slightly overdraft Dart to avoid another year on the quarterback carousel? Sure, that feels possible, but in the opinion of Yates’ First Draft co-host Mel Kiper Jr, that would be a disappointing outcome, as Pittsburgh would be picking a quarterback who has a lower grade than Fields coming out of college.
“I like him as QB3 but I don’t like him to the Steelers… Justin Fields, much higher graded coming out of college than Jaxson Dart will have. Justin Fields was a steal getting him from Chicago for a late-round pick. Mike Tomlin had him for a year and saw he is a leader,” Kiper said via On3. “He’s got all the talent in the world, super competitive. 4-2 as a starter, should have been 6-0 if the defense would have done their job. He’s young, he’s talented, he wants to be in the same system for back-to-back years. For me, you got your quarterback.”
Now granted, Fields’ stock has taken a dive over the past few years, as he couldn’t even hold the Steelers’ starting spot last season, but is he still a better prospect than Dart? If Pittsburgh thinks so, they will probably hope to use pick 21 on WR Emeka Egbuka, who actually caught passes from the former Bears quarterback at OSU. If not, Dart...
