The Last Time I’ll Address the Steelers QB Situation Until the Draft
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With Russell Wilson inking a one-year deal with the New York Giants worth up to $21 million, the ‘QB Drama’ portion of the Steelers’ offseason feels like it has reached its crescendo. At this point, the 2025 NFL Draft is later this month, and the number of starter-capable free agent QBs is almost nil. So, while it sucks that our current QB1 is Mason Rudolph, we at least have a bit of clarity on what we can expect to happen to our QB room over the next several weeks. It’s alarming to me that we will have completely overhauled our QB room yet again heading into the 2025 season, and it really bolsters the feeling among many fans that this coaching staff is incapable of developing a QB. I’m not ready to call that notion gospel quite yet, but this is something that needs to get figured out in the next two years, or I fear heads may begin to roll, starting with Mike Tomlin.
As I see it, QB1 and QB2/QB3 this season will include Mason Rudolph and one or two names on this list:
Aaron Rodgers - Free Agent QB (NYJ)
I really can’t believe that this is where we’re at. But, there’s no denying that it’s a major, league-wide talking point, so let’s fuckin talk about it.
For a while, I felt like the Steelers were sitting on their hands waiting for Aaron Rodgers to make a decision about whether he wants to continue to play football, and if so, what jersey he wants to wear when he does it. Then, Alan Saunders of Steelers Now put out his wonderful article highlighting the number of compensatory picks we have stockpiled in the meantime for the 2026 NFL Draft, which features a stronger QB class and takes place in Pittsburgh, PA. By the way, if Russell Wilson finds a way to come close to maxing out his incentives with the Giants, that’s another 3rd round pick for the Steelers in 2026. So, I’ve changed my tone significantly both in my brain and with my words about this waiting game we’re playing with Aaron Rodgers, because the Steelers aren’t winning a Super Bowl in 2025 regardless of who we trot out at QB, and if all this drama results in us using this extra draft capital to take a franchise guy in 2026, then this misery will have all been worth it. But, let’s say Aaron Rodgers decides to lace it up for one more year with the black and gold (emphasis on the ONE). What exactly would that look like?
Shoutout to the guys at Steelers Now for the tremendous work they do, which I follow closely, because I’m going to concede to Derrick Bell and his evaluation of Aaron Rodgers to reinforce much of what I already believed about Aaron Rodgers, anyway.
There’s no denying that Aaron Rodgers is one of the most talented throwers of the football to ever walk planet earth, and we saw flashes of that in 2024. He still boasts one of the quickest throwing motions in the league, which is something that I think could be put to good use by Arthur Smith. Deep throws, tight windows, on the run…you name it…I’m comfortable with Aaron Rodgers being the QB on my squad to make those throws. That’s not in doubt for me.
Something Derrick Bell highlighted in his evaluation was that Aaron Rodgers was”oddly fooled” at times last season by opposing defenses. To me, that’s very concerning, and forces me to ask a pretty egregious question about him: Does he still have the drive to be at his absolute best from a preparation standpoint? Only Aaron Rodgers can answer that question, but when you think about his unexcused absence from the Jets’ minicamp last year, some of the inexplicable layup misses littered throughout his 2024 film, and the uncharacteristic misdiagnoses’ of opposing defenses, I think it’s a fair question to ask.
Then, we have to consider his lack of mobility, and ask ourselves if a one-year rental is worth it for either side to pursue. I can hardly knock Rodgers for this as he will turn 42 years old during the 2025 season, and he’s coming off the most devastating injury of his entire career, but it’s just a known and understood fact that he’s not able to evade pressures and escape the pocket like he was once able to do. If his heart’s still in it, then I think he adds value as a pocket passer in a quick-pass-kinda offense, and he can probably get the Steelers to the 10-win range. And, given what I mentioned about the 2026 NFL draft, I would consider that to be a win and a good season for the Pittsburgh Steelers. BUT, we’re not competing for a Super Bowl…so again…I must ask, will Aaron Rodgers be willing to do what it takes from a preparation standpoint to be at his best each week knowing that we’re not a Super Bowl Contender? I kinda doubt it.
At this point, Aaron Rodgers has visited the Steelers facility to talk ball, and had a throwing session with Steelers WR1 D.K. Metcalf at UCLA, so it feels like he’s all but signed his contract. I’ve pretty much resigned to my fate that he will probably be the Steelers QB1 in 2025, and that’s ok as long as it’s just a one or two-year deal. And, in the wise words of Derrick Bell, “No matter the outcome, you can guarantee it won’t be boring.”
Jalen Milroe - QB from Alabama
I am not the Pittsburgh Steelers’ general manager, and they should never hire me to fill that role, because I am entirely too emotional about this team to make smart decisions regarding roster construction and team building. However, if I was the team’s GM, I think my preference would be to go into the 2025 season with Mason Rudolph and Jalen Milroe battling it out in camp for the QB1 spot.
That’s not to say Milroe is a finished product that I expect to set the league on fire this year, because he’s not and he won’t. Milroe seems incapable of throwing with anticipation with any consistency. He struggles to throw from the pocket. He sails his deep throws. He struggles to move through his progressions. He takes too many sacks. All that is true, and Milroe is going to enter the league as a likely backup with an exponential amount of potential to evolve into an elite quarterback if he can develop as a passer.
However, anyone that watched Alabama last year knows what Milroe is capable of from an athleticism standpoint. His draft profile on NFL.com gives him a 99 athleticism score, which is obviously number 1 among QBs in this year’s draft. After the way the Steelers bungled the Justin Fields situation, it would be nice to see them go out and get a guy that can break games with his legs, even if it’s just in packages. Also, Milroe has an NFL arm and can definitely spin it, he just has a lot to work on mechanically before he can be considered a reliable passer. If he puts in the work and develops in that area, then you have a guy for many, many years. If not, you have a freak athlete on your bench that you can bring in situationally that’s going to make defenses VERY nervous. Given the current state of the QBs in the 2025 draft class, there’s not a lot of ready-made starters out there anyway. Outside of the top 2 or 3 QBs, everyone else is going to be a dart throw, and if Milroe was the Steelers’ dart throw in, say, the 3rd round, with all that potential upside, I would be extremely satisfied with that.
Jaxson Dart - QB from Ole Miss
This is where things get interesting. Jaxson Dart has been mocked to the Steelers with the 21st overall pick by a LOT of people. He’s arguably the most polarizing QB prospect among Steelers fans with many hoping and praying we land him, while others want nothing to do with spending a first round pick on a quarterback this year. I can definitely see both sides of the argument.
I watched two Ole Miss games in anticipation of writing this post. The first game I watched was their 2024 game against Georgia. Jaxson Dart came out flat in that particular game. In Ole Miss’ first three plays on offense, Dart had a 1-yard run on first down, took a sack on second down, and threw a bad INT under pressure on third down. To make matters worse, he hurt his ankle on that third down play, and hobbled to the locker room…and I mean HOBBLED. Obviously, I had looked at his stats before the game so I knew he wasn’t going to be out for the rest of the game, but watching how he looked walking off the field…I couldn’t imagine how that would be possible. He missed the entire second drive, which, luckily resulted in an Ole Miss touchdown, and he returned to the field in Ole Miss’ third drive. Dart clearly didn’t look like himself for the rest of the first half, and the team was lucky to go into halftime with a 9-point lead. Georgia would come out in the second half and kick a FG, making it a 6-point game. On the ensuing Ole Miss drive, Jaxson Dart showed that moxie that you see so many people talking about. He led Ole Miss on an 8 play, 75 yard touchdown drive that included two completions of 20+ yards to Cayden Lee, and was capped off with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Antwane Wells Jr. This drive was something special in what was otherwise a defensive battle to this point in the game.
I think often about the time Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin went on The Pivot podcast and talked about how when evaluating players, the number one thing he looks at is a player’s pedigree, because everything else can be fixed with coaching. I really loved that part of the conversation with Ryan Clark and the boys, and it was the very first thing that came to my mind when I watched that touchdown drive orchestrated by Jaxson Dark. The kid was playing on a very bad ankle in front of his home crowd against one of the best teams in the nation, and they had some momentum to start off the second half. He was, essentially, forced to be one-dimensional, because he couldn’t move how he’s accustomed to moving, and he gave us one of his best drives of the season. That’s how I want my quarterback to respond to adversity, and that game really made me fall in love with Jaxson Dart as a prospect. Ole Miss would go on to win 28-10.
The other game I went back to watch in lieu of this post was Ole Miss’ 2024 game @ Florida. If you watched that game…you know where I’m going with this.
I’ll start off by saying this: Jaxson Dart played some absolutely sensational football in this game for 58 out of 60 minutes. He had a picture-perfect 43-yard touchdown throw on a string to Tre Harris III in the 2nd quarter that had me convinced that this was the guy I wanted in the draft this year. On Ole Miss’ following possession, he had a play-action throw on 4th & 2 where you can clearly see him stay calm, move through his progressions, and drop a dime in the middle of the field in a gotta-have-it moment. If I had to guess, the receiver, Jordan Watkins, was probably the third read on that play…and to stay calm in that moment and deliver that ball is something that you want to see from your quarterback. The next play was another dime over the middle to Cayden Lee for a 22-yard touchdown. It wasn’t just the throws, though. He was gashing the Gators’ defense with his legs to the tune of 14 carries for 71 yards.
All that was wonderful, but Florida did a good job of staying in this game on offense, and they found themselves up by a touchdown with just under four minutes left in the game. From this point on…I don’t know what happened to Jaxson Dart. With 1:32 left in the game, Florida rolled their entire secondary to the left side of the field, and Dart inexplicably threw a deep ball in the end zone to that side into triple coverage resulting in one of the most egregious INTs you’ll find on his tape. He had one-on-one to the right side of the field. Baffling.
Still, Ole Miss’ defense held up and got Dart the ball back with about a minute left in the game. With 32 seconds left in the game, he, again, tries to force a throw into some serious Gator traffic (we’ll call it double coverage although I think 3 Florida players could’ve played this ball). This throw should’ve absolutely been intercepted, but alas it was dropped. Next play: a clear miscommunication between Jordan Watkins and Jaxson Dart where Watkins stops on the route and Dart throws the go-route hitting the Gators’ DB in the hands for what should’ve been ANOTHER INT. BUT WAIT, there’s more. Next play: another miscommunication between Dart and his receiver to the right side of the field, and Dart basically just lobs the ball up to a Florida DB to finally ice the game. For those keeping track, that’s two awful interceptions in 1 minute and 32 seconds, and four turnover-worthy plays in that same span. It was an absolute meltdown of epic proportions.
So, I don’t know what to make of Jaxson Dart. I think he’s got the “it factor” if you will. He’s got moxie. He’s got grit. He can ABSOLUTELY spin it. But, moments later, he can absolutely crumble as well. He seems kinda Daniel-Jones-esque in that way. Of course, I grew up watching this guy named Ben Roethlisberger who, at times, looked like the best quarterback in the world, and at other times I genuinely questioned who the fuck he thought he was for some of the head scratching decisions you would see at times. And, Ben Roethlisberger is my favorite football player of all time and I cried when he retired. So, if one of the Steelers’ QB Dart throws (pun intended) was Jaxson Dart, I would be supportive of the decision, although I’m not sure he would be my first choice. Thank god I’m not in charge of the Steelers’ big board.
Tyler Shough - QB from Louisville
Of all the QB prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft THAT WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR THE PITTSBURGH STEELERS, I think Tyler Shough probably has the best chance of being a starter sooner rather than later. For starters, having played for three big time programs in Oregon, Texas Tech, and Louisville, this guy has had to learn a lot of football playing in several different systems. Arthur Smith’s offense, which I would consider to be relatively elementary compared to some other coordinators in the NFL, should be fairly easy for Shough to pick up.
Also, Shough will be 26 years old in September, and even though he’s a college prospect, there’s a lot to respect about a guy that has spent as much time in football locker rooms as he has had even though injuries have, largely, derailed his path to the NFL to this point. In his final season (2024) at Louisville, he threw for 3,195 yards, 23 touchdowns, and 6 INTs, leading the Cardinals to an 8-4 record, which doesn’t seem that impressive but does include a massive upset over Clemson. Shough was also one of the nation’s comeback player(s) of the year.
Funny enough, if the Steelers took Shough, he’d be battling it out with Mason Rudolph who is a very similar player in terms of skill sets. Both guys are largely immobile pocket passers, who can get hot when they’re in the flow but are largely inconsistent as a whole. The big difference between the two is I’ve seen Mason Rudolph take some SHOTS and still get the throw off, whereas Shough tends to fold a bit under pressure. I don’t think Tyler Shough is a long term option at QB, but I think he could be serviceable for a few years to at least stop the bleeding for the Steelers until we find the right guy. I’m on board with taking Tyler Shough…as long as it’s in the 4th round or later.
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