We have heard all season that the Pittsburgh Steelers planned to make a splash at the 2026 NFL draft and take a quarterback. That strategy has gone haywire as the once loaded crop of signal callers has fallen apart. The prospects who remain are top-heavy, and it could present more of a risk than what the Steelers had anticipated when they constructed this plan before the season began.
It's not the end of the world yet, as Fernando Mendoza and Dante Moore appear set to be the two top prospects at the position in the 2026 NFL Draft. Another person has been entered into the event this spring. Ty Simpson, out of Alabama, has just entered his name in the draft, according to the NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.
Many expect the Crimson Tide signal-caller to remain in first-round conversations.
Pittsburgh would be wise to look past Simpson in the first round of the upcoming event. He did show signs of strong play throughout this collegiate campaign, but he wasn't consistent. The bigger the stage became, the worse Simpson played. The Steelers could always find another avenue to land a better prospect down the line rather than taking a gamble on some of the quarterbacks this year.
Pittsburgh Steelers might benefit from bypassing QB Ty Simpson in the 2026 NFL Draft
With the playoff game with the Houston Texans just around the corner, most of Steelers Nation couldn't care less about the draft. Mike Tomlin has routinely gotten his team to this point in the year only to fall flat on his face. A longer wait during the postseason will reduce their chances of securing a top quarterback in the draft.
It's a problem most teams in the NFL would love to have.
Unless the Steelers can find a way to use their bounty of draft picks to trade up for Mendoza or Moore, they're better off waiting. Simpson has a lot of work to go through before he has a chance at becoming a starter in the NFL. He has shown glimpses of brilliance, but as the season rolled on, he struggled. There are paths for him to join Pittsburgh, but it might not be the best for business.
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Simpson will have first-round projections, and in most years, quarterbacks move up draft boards. In a class where Moore and Mendoza will probably be selected in the top five, Simpson could lure a team to take him early. If the Steelers hold one of the final picks of the first round and Aaron Rodgers retires, it's possible Simpson could be in the conversation.
It might not be the best decision for them in the long term.
While the Crimson Tide product did put up solid numbers on a team that wasn't their strongest, he must show he can play against elite NFL matchups each week. Simpson delivered some questionable performances this season against Georgia, Indiana, and Oklahoma. Don't rule him out yet, but taking this prospect early in the first round should prove to be a little rich for the Steelers' liking.