Steelers cannot pass on this one player with No. 21 pick, even if their fans hate it

Did we not just do this some three years ago? Yes, we kind of did, but this spring might be different. While the Kenny Pickett era of Pittsburgh Steelers football was as sad as it was embarrassing, I am not ruling out the team taking a quarterback at No. 21 overall this spring. Even though the Steelers have no shot at landing either Shedeur Sanders or Cam Ward, they could end up with Jaxson Dart.

Before you scream yourself Tom Coughlin purple over the idea of Dart sporting the black and yellow, let me at least attempt to talk you off the ledge. For the time being, Pittsburgh does not have a franchise quarterback. It is a result of Ben Roethlisberger holding this franchise hostage for years, Pickett not working out and Mike Tomlin refusing to let this team ever be worse than 10-7 or so.

No, I do not think Dart is going to change the game under center for whatever NFL team he plays for. However, I think he could work out wonderfully in Pittsburgh. This is a guy with a ton of banked starts playing in a pro-style system who got better with every season under Lane Kiffin's tutelage. Pickett was largely pedestrian until his redshirt senior at Pittsburgh playing WhippleBall for the Nard Dawg.

Dart is a better prospect than Pickett was coming out three years ago, so at you will have that.

Jaxson Dart could be the pick for the Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 21

Let me put it this way. Drafting a quarterback is not an exact science. Oftentimes the guy we think cannot possibly bust ends up doing so catastrophically. Remember that half of this league is undrafted. Some of the best quarterbacks in the game today were not first-round picks. There are plenty of late first-round picks who ended up becoming stars of the game we loves so very much.

What I am getting at is the only way forward for the Steelers eventually get out of the awful middle of the NFL hierarchy is to land a franchise quarterback. Players like Roethlisberger and Terry Bradshaw long before him can cover up deficiencies commonplace in your roster's construction. Whether it be Justin Fields, Russell Wilson or whoever, it is hard to see an NFL veteran being the guy for Pittsburgh.

As far as Dart is concerned, he might be the best available quarterback option for the Steelers if they were to go in that direction at No. 21. Quinn Ewers may have a powerful right arm, but he is brittle and I think he is the next Sam Bradford. Jalen Milroe may offer higher upside, but he is incredibly raw coming out of Alabama. To me, Dart is far more pro-ready than anyone wants to give him credit for.

What is causing me to grow tired with the Steelers is we keep getting repackaged the same old crap and are expected to believe things will be different. I would much rather fail and fail fast with a promising quarterback like Dart than continue to get some other team's sloppy seconds. You are the Steelers. Are you not better than that? At least with Dart, there is a compelling unknown factor to him.

If the Steelers are indeed a well-run organization, then they should be able to win right away with Dart.