3 reasons the Steelers will not draft their future quarterback this year

2. Pittsburgh rarely trades up

Since Pickett and Willis are the clear top two and are very unlikely to make it to pick 20, the Steelers would have to trade up to get them. This is very out of character for the Steelers to do, as they have only done it three times during the Kevin Colbert era. The players they have traded up for had different levels of success as they traded up for Troy Polamalu, Santonio Holmes, and Devin Bush.

Obviously, Polamalu made it into the Hall of Fame and Devin Bush hasn’t worked out as the team had hoped thus far, but even Holmes is a tricky one. Holmes looked like he was on his way to a great career in the black and gold after being named Super Bowl MVP, but off-field concerns caused the team to trade him after just four years. Clearly, the results of trading up have been mixed for Colbert and company, and I wouldn’t expect them to buck the trend and trade-up again this year.

Considering Pickett is high floor and low ceiling, and Willis is a huge boom or bust player, the risk vs. reward for trading up is not worth it. Not only would the Steelers have to trade draft capital that they desperately need to fill the other holes on the roster, but their two options to trade up for are just not highly touted enough prospects to be worth the risk.

While Willis is very talented he has too many question marks to justify not only spending a first-round selection on him but also trading picks to go up to get him. And as for Pickett, while he has a high floor, his upside doesn’t appear to be great enough to justify moving up and giving away additional assets to get him, as he may never be a legitimate difference-maker in the NFL. For these reasons, I expect the Steelers to either stand pat or trade back and accumulate assets this year, rather than move up in the draft.