Steelers just revealed their intentions in the 2022 NFL Draft

The Pittsburgh Steelers do not do smokescreens. Here’s why Kevin Colbert mistakenly revealed their hand prior to the 2022 NFL Draft. 

This is the time of year when I start to get really annoyed with the front office. With the 2022 NFL Draft just days away. the Pittsburgh Steelers are willingly showing their hand and making their intentions clear for the world to see.

On Monday afternoon, Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert held a press conference prior to the start of the NFL Draft on Thursday. While they could have used this as an opportunity to disguise their intentions or layout a smokescreen for their competitors, they essentially expressed exactly what they intend to do in the first round.

Colbert and Tomlin spent a good deal of the press conference talking about the quarterback position. They likened the time spent evaluating QBs this year to the time they spent with the running backs in 2021 (the position they ultimately went with in the first round).

In addition, the Steelers admitted that they have done an extremely deep dive on the quarterbacks this offseason and that they have met with some of them as many as seven times.

The worst part about all of this is that Kevin Colbert might have even made a fatal slip-up. During this pre-draft press conference, Colbert talked about predicting what it would take to move from pick 20 up to pick 7:

This shouldn’t come as a major surprise. The Steelers have been infatuated with the quarterbacks since the beginning of the pre-draft process. However, I feel like Tomlin and Colbert shared more information with the public than they needed to. In reality, however, other NFL teams probably already know they are making a play for a QB.

If you have been following along throughout the process, it certainly feels like Malik Willis is the guy they’ve got their sights set on. Pittsburgh’s brass has been infatuated with Willis since meeting him and his family at the Senior Bowl, and he has done nothing since then to jeopardize his status.

Is there any chance Steelers go BPA?

In the press conference, Tomlin and Colbert also talked about not straying from the best players available (BPA). They claimed that they won’t reach for a player based on positional needs but admitted that if two players are close on their board, they will favor the player that fills a bigger hole.

Don’t let all of this talk fool you. History has shown us that this typically isn’t how the Steelers operate in the NFL Draft. Steelers took a running back in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft, an off-ball linebacker in 2019, a safety in 2018, and a cornerback in 2016.

Not surprisingly, these all lined up with their biggest positional needs in each respective draft. This year is no different. Pittsburgh has zeroed in on the quarterback position, and I’m not sure if there is a player who could realistically change their mind from going this route.

There’s no position more important than quarterback in football, and I’m glad the Steelers put in the work this offseason. However, I think this is a pretty weak QB class overall, and I don’t love that they’ve already revealed their intentions early in the 2022 NFL Draft.