Now that the trade deadline has passed, Pittsburgh Steelers fans have turned their attention to next year’s draft.
NFL draft season has become largely popular in the football community, highlighted by the three months where everyone becomes infatuated with 40 times, hand sizes, and photoshops. While 40s have been around for decades, the photoshops are a recent development that allows fanbases to see their most desired prospects donning the team’s uniform.
Although the official start of draft season is about four months away, Pittsburgh Steelers fans have already begun expressing their draft desires via photoshop. It appears that they are hoping the team drafts one of the top, talented quarterback prospects.
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Steelers fans ready to draft top quarterbacks
Fans of the Steel City can already see the top quarterback prospects in the black and gold digitally, but they are hoping one of these young talents will eventually put on the Steeler jersey in real life. The three quarterbacks pictured are University of Pittsburgh‘s Kenny Pickett, Ole Miss’ Matt Corral, and Liberty University’s Malik Willis.
Pickett is in his fifth year at Pitt, and currently playing himself into Heisman discussions. On the year he has thrown 2,755 yards, 26 touchdowns, and just three interceptions, while adding 177 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. He has led the Panthers to a 6-2 record.
Corral, who’s also in Heisman conversations, is a redshirt junior for the 6-2 Rebels. He currently has 2,202 passing yards and 15 touchdowns to just two interceptions. He’s also been a threat with his legs picking up 519 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground.
On Saturday, Corral’s Ole Miss will take on the 7-2 Liberty Flames, who are led by Willis. Many feel that Willis is the top quarterback in this year’s class, and his weekly performances make it hard to dispute. As a redshirt junior for Liberty this year, Willis has thrown 1,986 yards, 21 touchdowns, six interceptions and ran for 684 yards with nine touchdowns.
Who will succeed Ben Roethlisberger for Steelers
The work of all three quarterbacks is evidence of why they are highly desired by the Steelers fanbase, even Cincinnati’s Desmond Ridder, who some fans mentioned in response. How likely is it though, that one of these quarterbacks will replace the legendary Ben Roethlisberger.
If the last season and a half has shown anything, it’s that Roethlisberger is near the end of his career. While he has given a lot to Pittsburgh and the organization, it’s no denying that he is in decline, and with him set to be a free agent after this season, he’s likely heading into retirement.
While drafting one of these talented quarterbacks would be great for the Steelers, it’s much easier said than done. Although the Steelers have struggled early, they remain competitive, which means they likely will finish with a record that doesn’t place them in the top 5 of the draft order. That means if Pittsburgh is to make fans’ dreams come true, a lot will have to fall into place. They will either have to trade up or hope the perfect quarterback prospect falls to them.
With the draft, anything can happen over the eventful three days and things may workout perfectly for Pittsburgh and it’s fans. Last year, the most desired prospect of Steelers Twitter was Najee Harris, now he’s scoring touchdowns for Pittsburgh, so maybe the fans can photoshop a top quarterback into existence.