Advertisement

The unlikeliest ex-Steelers QB was forced into action in Week 16

Nobody saw this coming.
Tommy Jaggi
Tommy Jaggi

Still Curtain

Kanas City Chiefs QB Chris Oladokun / Aaron M. Sprecher/GettyImages

A former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback is slinging passes in Week 16 of the 2025 NFL season. But it's not Russell Wilson, Justin Fields, or Mitch Trubisky. It's not even Kenny Pickett (who bombed in his Week 15 start). To the astonishment of everyone, it's Chris Oladokun.

You remember him, right? In Kevin Colbert's last NFL Draft as general manager of the Steelers, he attempted to leave his team with two young options at QB (Pickett and Oladokun). The latter of which proved to be Colbert's last-ever draft pick as GM.

Unfortunately, the 2022 seventh-round pick didn't stick around, and his contract was terminated in the same year he was drafted.

Now, three years later, Oladokun is finally getting the chance to showcase his skills.

Pittsburgh Steelers fans witness 2022 draft pick Chris Oladokun take the field for the Kansas City Chiefs

After throwing just one career pass since being drafted in 2022, Oladokun found his way onto the field for the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 16. This was only made possible thanks to an ACL/LCL injury to superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes and a knee injury to Gardner Minshew.

Oladokun began the week as the primary backup to Minshew. However, when Minshew was injured after just eight pass attempts against the Tennessee Titans in Week 16, Oladokun finally got to see the field.

The small-school product out of South Dakota State didn't do much to catch the eye of spectators, going six of eight for just 46 yards to close out the half, per ESPN stats. Still, this was better than what Minshew had done to this point, as the long-time NFL backup was just three-of-eight for a mere 15 yards (1.9 yards per attempt) prior to his exit from the game with a knee injury.

Pittsburgh Steelers fans never got the privilege of seeing Chris Oladokun throw as much as a single regular-season pass during his brief time with the team, and he's the unlikeliest ex-quarterback we would have expected to see the field at this stage of the 2025 season.

Tommy Jaggi

Tommy Jaggi

Tommy Jaggi is an Editor for FanSided, joining Minute Media in 2019 after covering the NFL and the Pittsburgh Steelers on various websites. Jaggi previously covered the Cincinnati Bengals for Sports Illustrated and managed With The First Pick. He hosts the Still Curtain Podcast and the Stacking The Box podcast. Jaggi has interviewed players like T.J. Watt, Jerome Bettis, Alan Faneca, Heath Miller, Ike Taylor, Merril Hoge, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Najee Harris. Jaggi also appeared as a guest on numerous podcasts and radio shows.