Now that we know Russell Wilson isn't coming back, the Pittsburgh Steelers will officially have an entirely new crop of quarterbacks for the 2025 season. Aaron Rodgers remains the prize, but there are whispers that the 41-year-old could elect to retire.
Whether Rodgers signs with the Steelers, this team still needs a long-term answer. However, we would strongly caution Pittsburgh against repeating the mistakes of the past. The 2025 quarterback class isn't exactly loaded with talent, and the top two prospects—Miami's Cam Ward and Colorado's Shedeur Sanders—will likely be off the board long before the Steelers are on the clock in Round 1.
That doesn't stop Charles Davis from thinking the Steelers will hit the panic button.
In the second version of Davis' 2025 NFL mock draft, the NFL analyst has the Pittsburgh Steelers using the 21st overall pick on Ole Miss Rebels quarterback Jaxson Dart. As we approach April, Dart is widely considered in media circles as the third-best quarterback prospect in the 2025 draft.
"It wasn’t long ago that the Steelers selected Kenny Pickett at No. 20 overall," Davis wrote. "Three years and one pick later in Round 1, they draft another QB that they believe will be their guy for the future, whether Aaron Rodgers eventually joins them or not."
The Pittsburgh Steelers can't afford to get desperate for a QB in the 2025 NFL Draft
If the Steelers don't believe Dart is a franchise quarterback, they will be making the same mistake they did with Kenny Pickett in the 2022 NFL Draft. With Ben Roethlisberger hanging up his cleats for good following the 2021 season, Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert fixated on finding a quick-fix at the quarterback position in an awful QB class. But we knew Pickett was never going to be enough for this team.
For my money, Dart is a better prospect than Pickett, but not so much that Pittsburgh should jump at the opportunity to draft him. Though the Ole Miss product checks many boxes teams look for in terms of size, production, and athleticism, he doesn't go above and beyond in these areas, and he only possesses average arm talent.
Additionally, Dart comes from a Lane Kiffin college offense engineered to make a quarterback's job easy with simple one-read throws. It's unclear if Dart can read a defense and how effective he will be at the next level in doing so.
It's hard to fault any team for wanting to take a swing at a quarterback. After all, it's undeniably the most important position in football. However, it's becoming increasingly clear that this isn't the draft class for the Pittsburgh Steelers to blow first-round draft capital trying to find another quick quarterback fix.