We all know there's nothing more important the Steelers can do than find a franchise quarterback, but that may have to wait. Outside of forking up a lucrative contract for Sam Darnold—who had one good NFL season out of seven—options are limited this offseason.
Eventually, Pittsburgh will need to land a franchise signal-caller in the NFL Draft. This year, the top two prospects are Miami's Cam Ward and Colorado's Shedeur Sanders. Both quarterbacks are expected to be off the board well before the Steelers are on the clock.
But according to the latest mock draft from CBS Sports, that may not stop Pittsburgh from taking a QB anyway.
With the 21st overall pick, Josh Edwards of CBS Sports has the Steelers turing their card in for Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart.
"Pittsburgh will likely keep or make a move for a veteran, but the reality is that the Steelers have to keep taking these swings at quarterback if they want to find a quarterback of the future," Edwards wrote. "As a team perpetually stuck in that .500 range, the Steelers are never going to be high enough to take a bigger swing."
Steelers need to throw a 'dart' at QB, but this isn't what we had in mind
Unless the Pittsburgh Steelers stumble upon a Sam Darnold-like reclamation project of their own, this team will need to find its franchise signal-caller in the NFL Draft. But taking arguably the third-best quarterback in an underwhelming QB class isn't the way to go.
There are things about Jaxson Dart's game that I like. The Ole Miss quarterback is a box-checker when it comes to size, traits, and production. However, he comes from a gimmicky Lane Kiffin offense that typically doesn't produce NFL QBs (Matt Corral is the latest example).
I like Dart better as a prospect than Kenny Pickett coming out of Pitt in the 2022 NFL Draft, but that's a low bar and the process is still poor. Instead of settling for the third or fourth-best quarterback in an underwhelming QB class, the Steelers will need to bite the bullet at some point in the near future and trade up for a QB. The chance of striking gold on a quarterback picked in the twenties is slim.
While nothing is more important than quarterback, Pittsburgh seems determined to run it back with Justin Fields or Russell Wilson at the helm this year and use their top draft capital on an interior defender or wide receiver.
Selecting a quarterback in Round 1 would be completely outside the box. It's not impossible, but it's unlikely Pittsburgh would find what they are looking for. Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan will show their interest on the pre-draft scouting trail, but the Steelers are probably looking at a Day 3 quarterback in the draft this year, not a first-round pick.