Miami QB Drawing Comparisons to Steelers Legend

PITTSBURGH -- With the NFL Offseason now in full swing, the Pittsburgh Steelers are in the hunt for a sufficient quarterback once again.
While it is near impossible that the Steelers will trade all the way up to the top picks of the draft, the relatively weak quarterback class this year tapers off significantly following the first couple quarterbacks available.
One of those quarterbacks, Miami's Cam Ward, has received quite high praise. Mock drafts have seen him stay within the top five picks pretty consistently, and he has an opportunity to become a franchise option for the team that drafts him.
Pro Football Focus analyst Trevor Sikkema had high praise for the quarterback, issuing a comparison between him and Steelers legend Ben Roethlisberger. In an article where Sikkema issued player comparisons for all of PFF's top 20 prospects, Ward was placed No. 17 on their list, and was given Roethlisberger as a comparison.
"Ward is an unorthodox gunslinger, and the NFL comparison my mind keeps going back to is Ben Roethlisberger." Sikkema wrote. "Both had some scoot with their escapability, but you wouldn’t exactly call them mobile. Both were also fearless in pushing the ball deep down the field. It’s a high-end comparison, but I believe Ward sees the game like Big Ben did."
It seems quite unlikely that the Steelers will be in the market for Ward. In order to get near the top 5 of this draft, the Steelers would likely have to mortgage their future in a trade to land a pick that high.
Likely, the Steelers will look to free agency to address their quarterback needs. That being said, it remains to be seen what their long-term plans at the position are. It is possible that at some point they will go on to land a quarterback like Ward.

Ari Meyer originally hails from just outside DC and now currently resides in Pittsburgh. He has been a writer with On SI since April 2024.
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