Steelers Devlin Hodges has outplayed former 1st overall picks in two straight weeks
By Tommy Jaggi
Devlin Hodges may not be the future at quarterback for the Steelers, but he has outplayed former first overall picks in each of his past two starts.
It’s hard enough sometimes as Steelers fans to grasp our heads around the idea of Devlin Hodges starting right now. The undrafted rookie out of Samford was the 4th quarterback on Pittsburgh’s depth chart in August and had next to no chance of seeing the field this season.
However, what’s more impressive than Hodges actually becoming a starter this year is what he has been doing with his opportunities.
In each of his past two performances against the Browns and Cardinals, Duck Hodges has outplayed two former 1st overall picks in Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray. Both quarterbacks were Oklahoma products who put up astounding numbers in college and were highly touted prospects entering the National Football League.
Mayfield, the number one overall draft choice in 2018, had an incredible second half to his rookie season. From weeks 11-16 last year, he managed to put up 14 touchdowns and 4 interceptions as he threw for 7.7 yards per attempt and 3,725 passing yards as a rookie.
Murray, the first pick from the 2019 draft, has been equally impressive in his rookie season – throwing 16 touchdowns to 9 interceptions and eclipsing 3,000 passing yards already.
So when it came time for Devlin Hodges to go head-to-head with two of the league’s most promising up-and-coming quarterbacks, it was impressive to see the undrafted rookie outperform them.
On December 1st, Hodges outpaced Mayfield in passing yards, yards per attempt, and quarterback rating while leading the Steelers to victory. Duck did the same to Kyler Murray this week. While Kyler ousted Hodges in passing yards and touchdowns, Hodges outplayed Murray in terms of yards per attempt, completion percentage, passer rating.
Murray also turned the ball over three times compared to none for Hodges. Remarkably, the Samford product even earned 32 more yards on the ground than one of the NFL’s most mobile quarterbacks.
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Obviously, Hodges doesn’t have to face his own defense, and this may be an entirely different story if he was forced to do so. However, it’s still an impressive feat to outperform number one overall picks in back-to-back weeks. Perhaps there is an outside chance that he could be Pittsburgh’s quarterback of the future, but we will pump the breaks on that thought until we continue to see more from the young quarterback.