Steelers' Chances Of Selecting Shedeur Sanders Not Dead Yet After Latest Report

The Pittsburgh Steelers made the safe and logical choice on Thursday evening when the team's brass decided to select defensive lineman Derrick Harmon with the 21st overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. There has already been some backlash because Shedeur Sanders (and Jaxson Dart for that matter) were both on the board when the franchise was on the clock. It's clear that the front office didn't have a true first-round grade on any of the signal-callers that were going to be available at that selection, or if they did, none truly surpassed the preference of Harmon. The franchise will now continue to have to answer questions about the long-term solution at the quarterback position.

It still remains a mystery as to where Sanders will be taken in the draft. With nearly every team passing on him in the first round, however, that should tell fans how scouts and coaches around the league feel about him. Tom Pelissero of NFL Network went into detail about what the expectation was for the quarterback as the draft began.

"He's sliding, but is it actually a slide," Pelissero questioned. "What I would say is, this is probably right around where, if you were being realistic about it, and taking his last name out of it, was always where he was going to go. He's somewhere in the late-first, second-round quarterback. There were definitely teams that had him about Jaxson Dart. I think there were a lot of teams that had Jaxon Dart about Shedeur Sanders." 

The more interesting part of Pelissero's reporting was when he brought up the Steelers in the third round. He believes there still is a possibility that the signal-caller could fall to Pittsburgh at the 83rd overall selection.

"Now the question becomes, Day 2 of the draft, you have the [Cleveland] Browns with a couple of picks high in the second round. You've got the [New Orleans] Saints that have a high second-round pick. The Steelers don't have a second-round pick; they do have a third. In my mind, that might potentially be the floor for Shedeur Sanders here."

That would be a pretty wild turn of events. As the insider stated, other quarterback-needy teams have second-round picks that could be used on Sanders, but there still is a possibility that he ends up in the Steel City if he falls even more down the board and General Manager Omar Khan decides to take him after all.

Sanders is such an interesting prospect because of who is dad is, but he also is a heck of a football player. It's clear that teams around the league noticed something that led to hesitation. Not only did he fall out of the first round, but now a respected insider is thinking it could be possible for him to fall all the way to the back-half of the third.

One would have to think that, if the Steelers really do like Sanders, a trade-up scenario would be in the realm of possibility if the quarterback doesn't get taken in the second round. Pittsburgh is planning to have compensatory picks in 2026, so could hypothetically trade its original third or -fourth-rounder next year and maybe another selection this year to move up. Overall, it'd be a pretty crazy sequence if the Steelers still somehow end up taking Sanders.

Steelers Will Still Likely Draft A Quarterback At Some Point During 2025 NFL Draft

Pittsburgh has not shown its cards just yet when it comes to the signal-caller position. The team had several in for pre-draft visits, which hints at the fact that the decision could be made to select one on Friday or over the weekend. The more interesting possibility is Sanders falling out of Round 2, opening up a trade-up possibility. Khan could have plans to get aggressive if that does indeed happen.

Do you think the Steelers made a mistake by not drafting Sanders on Thursday? Let us know in the comments below!

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