Pros and cons of Steelers taking a quarterback in the 2021 NFL Draft

Cons of Steelers drafting a quarterback in 2021

While the Steelers appear to be prime candidates to draft their future quarterback in 2021 and have him learn the system for a year behind Roethlisberger, nothing is ever truly that simple. There are plenty of reasons why Pittsburgh may elect to forego addressing the quarterback position for the time being.

The biggest reason is the draft capital that will be involved – capital that the Steelers may be unwilling to spend right now. With the way things are currently going in 2020, Mike Tomlin’s team is going to be picking very late this April (hopefully 32nd, if he has anything to say about it). This means that in order to land a potential franchise quarterback, Pittsburgh will no doubt have to trade up to a much higher spot in the draft.

This won’t be cheap, and the Steelers are likely to surrender multiple first-round draft choices if this scenario plays out. Instead, Tomlin and his crew could be thinking that they could spend those much-needed resources to bulk up the roster in what could be Roethlisberger’s last season.

We are eye-witnesses as to how a very good draft can improve a team right away. This year, Chase Claypool, Kevin Dotson, and Alex Highsmith have all been excellent for the Steelers – and that was without having a first-round pick. If the Steelers elect to go up and get their quarterback this offseason, the rest of the roster could suffer because of it.