Jalen Hurts may no longer be an option for the Steelers this April

Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts is a name that has been linked to the Steelers early in the draft process. Here’s why Pittsburgh might not share the same interest.

Whether you are a fan of Jalen Hurts or not, every hardcore football fan knows who he is at this point. Hurts was a wildly productive quarterback at Oklahoma, but there are many who believe his skills won’t translate well at the NFL level. While I personally am a fan of Hurts, the Pittsburgh Steelers may not be.

The Steelers have had staff members attending Pro Days since they opened on March 4th, and Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert were on hand at Clemson’s Pro Day on Wednesday. Ironically enough, Pittsburgh didn’t send a single representative out to Oklahoma this week.

While the Coronavirus scare has altered decisions from the NBA, NHL, and NCAA, it hasn’t yet changed the plans of the Steelers. According to the Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, the Steelers have not altered their plans:

If this is true, this could mean that there just generally was not enough interest in Jalen Hurts to send representatives out to his Pro Day. Though Tomlin and Colbert were prepping for a trip to Clemson the following day, it’s interesting to note that neither Randy Fichtner or anyone from the scouting department was reported to be on hand to watch Hurts perform at his Pro Day.

While this doesn’t automatically rule Hurts out as a possibility to the Steelers, it doesn’t bode well for his chances of being selected by Pittsburgh. Historically under Tomlin and Colbert, Pro Day meetings have been one of the biggest predictors of players who will be drafted.

The Steelers could still elect to use one of their designated 30 pre-draft visits to get a better look at Jalen Hurts, but if they don’t end up doing that, there is very little chance Pittsburgh would consider drafting him.

Also performing at Oklahoma’s Pro Day was defensive tackle prospect, Neville Gallimore. The fifth-year senior had some early second-round buzz following the 2019 season but is probably more realistically a third-round candidate. His stature and play style is similar to Javon Hargrave – a player who has all but said he is not returning to Pittsburgh.

Perhaps there is something we don’t know in all of this, or maybe (contrary to Dulac’s report) the Steelers did give their scouts the day off on March 11th. Either way, it’s not looking like Hurts is going to be a realistic draft candidate on Pittsburgh’s radar.