The Pittsburgh Steelers are in an intriguing spot. The need for a quarterback is very prevalent. The only two quarterbacks currently in their organization are Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson. Neither of these options is good enough to start for a team that (supposedly) has Super Bowl aspirations.
There are seemingly two paths the Steelers can go down to find their starter for the 2025 season. The first would be signing Aaron Rodgers in free agency. This would be the easiest move, but the fact that it hasn't happened yet suggests it's far from a slam dunk. The other option would be drafting a quarterback with their first-round selection in the upcoming NFL Draft, currently slotted in at No. 21 overall.
Not too long ago, the odds of Pittsburgh selecting a quarterback in the first round were probably slim to none, but Shedeur Sanders' stock falling as much as it seemingly has in recent weeks has opened the door to the Steelers having the opportunity to pick him. While this might seem like a blessing in disguise, one evaluation involving Rudolph from an NFL offensive coordinator that ESPN's (subscription required) Jeremy Fowler spoke with suggests otherwise.
"I continue to hear Pittsburgh wants to take a swing on a quarterback in one of the next two drafts, and next year's class is considered stronger. I'm just not sure taking one in the first round in 2025 makes the most sense for them. Consider this: I asked an NFL offensive coordinator where Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph would rank in this draft class, had he been coming out with the rest of the group. The coordinator placed him third," Fowler wrote.
That's right - of all of the quarterbacks in this upcoming class, this offensive coordinator would rank Rudolph third overall. Yikes.
Mason Rudolph evaluation might be enough to pass on Shedeur Sanders
Fowler did not reveal anything about what this offensive coordinator had to say about Rudolph's placement. For all we know, he could be higher on Rudolph than anyone and think that he ranks that highly in a high-end quarterback class. Given the fact that he threw as many touchdown passes as interceptions last season and couldn't overtake Will Levis as the Tennessee Titans' starter, it's probably more likely that he thinks this class is just incredibly underwhelming.
For all we know, this offensive coordinator could have Sanders as the second-best option in the class behind Cam Ward and ahead of Rudolph. Even if that's the case, though, the odds of Sanders being worth a first-round pick in a class that has Rudolph as the third-best option are probably slim.
As Fowler noted, next year's class, headlined by Arch Manning. is considered stronger. It's never fun to wait, especially for a quarterback, but the Steelers have already suffered the consequences of not waiting. They selected Kenny Pickett in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft when they held the No. 20 selection. Pickett was the first quarterback off the board in a lousy class, and he wound up getting traded after just two lackluster seasons.
Reaching for the right quarterback is fine, but taking a quarterback just to take a quarterback is not. If this class is weak enough to have Rudolph as the third-best option, it might be for the best for Pittsburgh to wait another year and get this quarterback selection right in the 2026 NFL Draft.