Aaron Rodgers has flirted with the idea of returning to the Pittsburgh Steelers for one more season in 2026, but nothing is set in stone. Even if the best-case scenario plays—Rodgers has an excellent 2025 season and decides to come back for one more—he will be 42 years old.
Thankfully, the outlook in the 2026 NFL Draft is already looking encouraging.
On Thursday, respected NFL Draft analyst of The Athletic, Dane Brugler, dropped his initial top-50 2026 draft rankings. His first big board included a strong list of quarterbacks with seven signal-callers ranked inside the top 50 overall players.
Unsurprisingly, Brugler had Arch Manning as his top QB (No. 2 overall player), but with NIL deals, there's no guarantee the third-generation Manning QB and Texas product will enter the 2026 draft. If he does, the Steelers are unlikely to move up high enough to land him. But it's looking like there will be plenty of other options.
On his first big board, Dane has South Carolina's LaNorris Sellers as his No. 7 overall player and LSU's Garrett Nussmeier as his No. 10 overall player. Most experts agree (at least early in the process) that these are the top three quarterbacks of the 2026 draft class.
After these three, Dane has Indiana's Fernando Mendoza at No. 20, Penn State's Drew Allar at No. 27, and Clemson's Cade Klubnik at No. 30. Brugler's final quarterback just inside his top-50 player rankings is Arizona State's Sam Leavitt at No. 46.
The Pittsburgh Steelers could have plenty of QB options in the 2026 NFL Draft
Based on the early outlook from Dane Brugler, the 2026 draft class is shaping up to be strong at the quarterback position. Even if Arch Manning decides to stay in school, the Pittsburgh Steelers should still have options... and even more could come into consideration.
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It's possible that traitsy underclassmen like Kansas State's Avery Johnson or UCLA's Nico Iamaleava could declare early with a strong 2025 season and throw their names in the mix as early-round candidates. Oklahoma's John Mateer could also be a sneaky candidate to watch this year.
Early draft order projections from Tankathon have the Steelers picking 16th overall in the 2026 NFL Draft and selecting Cade Klubnik in the first round. However, we still have a whole NFL and college football season ahead of us, and these projections could change dozens of times between now and next April.
Regardless, Brugler already feels like the 2026 draft class will be strong at the quarterback position, which means the Pittsburgh Steelers should have no shortage of options to choose from. You can bet that Omar Khan and the front office will be eyeing the next franchise QB. Now it's about doing their homework to ensure they find the right guy.