Albert Breer: It Wouldn’t Surprise Me if the Steelers Take Another Swing at QB
PITTSBURGH -- Will the Steelers draft a quarterback in the 2020 NFL Draft?
It's the question that rings higher than any others as we inch closer to the first pick from Roger Goodell's basement. The line between using the 49th pick on a player with a larger role in 2020 or assuring the Mason Rudolph, Devlin Hodges situation doesn't happen again has stayed on the mind of every draft analyst since the 2019 season came to a close.
Now, nearly a week away from the draft, many point Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts as the Steelers first pick at No. 49. A Heisman finalist who electrified the NCAA in his final season, Hurts is as big of a hit-or-miss prospect as they come.
In ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr.'s latest mock draft, he predicts Hurts and the Steelers finding each other in the second-round. As for Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer, he tends to agree.
"And to answer your question, no, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Steelers take another swing at the quarterback spot somewhere in next week’s draft," Breer wrote in his MMQB mailbag this week.
Asked if Hurts or Washington quarterback Jacob Eason could be liable options for the Steelers in the second-round, Breer began discussing the "second-tier" quarterbacks in this year's draft, and the uncertainty they leave with teams.
"Over the last five drafts, 16 quarterbacks have gone in the first round," Breer wrote. "Just three have gone in the second round, those three being Drew Lock, Christian Hackenberg and DeShone Kizer. And just eight have gone in the third round, and another eight have gone in the fourth round. Which means nearly as many quarterbacks have gone in the first round, as have gone in the second, third and fourth rounds combined.
"Why? It’s simple. Picking a quarterback is a yes-or-no thing. You either think a guy is good enough to build around, and stake your future to, or he’s going to be a backup. That’s the way the position works—there’s no, well, if this guy doesn’t work out at left tackle, he can be our right guard. He either is or he isn’t. If he is, most teams won’t risk waiting to take him. If he isn’t, then he’s a backup. Most teams don’t spend second or third rounders on guys they believe will be backups."
Breer highlights Hurts and Eason as somewhat of an exception to that rule because of the potential they carry for the future over their talent today.
"Hurts and Eason are both interesting in that regard, because there seems to be room for growth with them, and sometimes guys like that (Hackenberg, Lock, and Brock Osweiler would be examples) wind up hitting that second-round sweet spot," he explained. "But more often than not, if a team falls in love with a quarterback, they’ll just take him in Round 1."
In AllSteelers' Donnie Druin's "Three Players the Steelers Would Love to Fall to 49", Hurts sits second as a likely option for Pittsburgh.
