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For the first time in almost 20 years, the Pittsburgh Steelers will have a new head coach leading the way into free agency and the NFL Draft following Mike Tomlin’s departure.
After bouncing from quarterback to quarterback in the post-Ben Roethlisberger era, playing everyone from “Duck” Devlin Hodges to Mason Rudolph, Kenny Pickett, Russell Wilson, Justin Field, and, most recently, Aaron Rodgers, many fans want to see the Steelers really commit to building a winner around a new long-term option under center, instead of constantly chasing a .500-ish record with mercenary arms.
And yet, in the opinion of Roethlisberger on his podcast, Footbahlin, going QB in the 2026 NFL Draft might not be the best way to accomplish that goal. No, while it would be incredible to see the Steelers draft a player like Ty Simpson in the first round on their home turf, the future Hall of Famer would like to see Pittsburgh build up their roster instead, as it would allow them to succeed, not struggle, with a rookie under center.
“I would not draft a quarterback for at least two to three years. That’s just my opinion,” Roethlisberger said via Steelers Depot. “I think as a GM, if I’m GMing this team … the issue that I see with a lot of teams is they get a quarterback, and they try and build around that quarterback.
“I think it should be the other way around. I think you should build a team and put your quarterback in it. Okay? It happened to me. They had a great football team. They plugged me in. We had a veteran group. It just works. It works better than trying to grab a quarterback and be, okay, we’re gonna build around this quarterback, because then it’s gonna take you four or five years to build around that quarterback. He’s probably gonna look like poo up to it, and then you’re like, ‘Is he really our guy? Is he not our guy?'”
After spending the last decade with a .500 record or better, the Steelers aren’t a team with a roster completely bereft of talent. If they get a quality head coach in place and hit a Jaxson Dart-level home run in the draft, the Steelers could immediately hit the ground running and return to the playoffs once more. With that in mind, that is far from a guarantee, and Roethlisberger’s more tempered plan might serve Pittsburgh better in the long run.
The post Why Ben Roethlisberger wouldn’t draft a QB in 2026 regardless of the Steelers head coach appeared first on ClutchPoints.
