The Steelers proved this trend with their quarterback selection
The Steelers entered the 2022 draft with their franchise quarterback for the first time in almost 20 years. They had added veteran Mitch Trubisky to the room in the offseason, but given his struggles as a starter, that move likely wasn’t for the long term. That said, Trubisky was seen as the best available free agent, so it was feasible that he would start for a season or two if the team needed him to.
It became clear that they wanted a quarterback Despite that quarterback class being one of the worst on paper in recent years, Pittsburgh forced their hand and took Kenny Pickett despite his deficiencies. While the mantra of “don’t take the quarterback and wait until next year” is flawed, no one was high on the 2022 class and there was more to like on paper for 2023.
Taking Pickett forced the team to ignore needs elsewhere. The offensive line continued to deteriorate, the cornerback room lacked a top-level name, and the defensive line was devoid of talent minus Cameron Heyward. Instead, the Steelers got their guy in Pickett despite him lacking the top-level talent to be elite. There was definitely a better way to build this team.
All you have to do is look at a team like the Lions as evidence of how to do this. Despite numerous top draft picks and poor seasons, they opted to stand pat with Jared Goff since the quarterback they wanted wasn’t available. This allowed them to invest heavily in their offensive line and receivers while also building out their defense.
Even without an elite quarterback, the team around Goff is elevating him. Not saying that would have happened with the Steelers (Trubisky isn’t as good as Goff is), but what you could have done is instead of reaching for a quarterback in the first round, you add some better talent elsewhere instead. The team as a whole would have been better and eventually, the quarterback play would have caught up.