Steelers' Polarizing Quarterback Room Gets Defended After AFC North Rival's Many Questionable Decisions

The Pittsburgh Steelers have made some quarterback moves that have left fans and analysts confused. They passed on signing numerous passers in free agency, and they let both of their starters from 2024 walk away after allegedly lowballing one of them. In the 2025 NFL Draft, they clearly were not thrilled with many of the top prospects at that position, as they waited until the sixth round to draft one. After the draft, Pittsburgh's signal-callers consist of returning veteran Mason Rudolph, rookie Will Howard, and young backup Skylar Thompson. 

However, it could always be worse, as Mark Kaboly pointed out during his recent appearance on 93.7 The Fan. The Steelers' quarterback room may be lackluster, but it's not nearly as volatile as their rivals just a few minutes west.

"Look at that Browns' quarterback room," Kaboly said. "Oh my goodness! I don't want anybody to ever say anything bad about the Steelers' quarterback room if they only got Will Howard, Mason Rudolph, and Skylar Thompson when you got that interesting collection of characters in Cleveland."

No matter what happens with the Steelers' quarterback situation, at least they don't have Deshaun Watson and his albatross of a contract as the headliner. He is expected to miss some of the 2025 season, if not all of it, due to him re-tearing his Achilles. He has been the biggest blemish on the Cleveland Browns in their recent history after they nearly rebounded and became a respectable franchise again.  

Behind him is 40-year-old Joe Flacco, who had a revival with the Browns in 2023 before leaving to be a backup elsewhere. While he doesn't have the magic that he previously had, it could be argued that he is their most sane, competent option currently. His job will not be guaranteed, however, as there is a lot of competition behind him. 

Next in line is former Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett, a former first-round pick that ran himself out of town. If he didn't like the competition brought in for him in Pittsburgh, he is going to absolutely hate training camp in Cleveland. He is still relatively young and has some untapped potential, but as Steeler Nation saw first-hand, he can and will quit on the team if he feels disrespected by them. 

Behind him are two rookies. The first is Dillon Gabriel, who was seen as a reach in the third round. Many analysts projected that he would get selected somewhere in Day 3 of the draft. He kept transferring between schools and is undersized for his position. Many believe he will be nothing more than a career backup. That's still a better option than their last choice. 

Steelers Dodged Bullet In The Draft

Supposed Top 5 prospects don't fall all the way into the fifth round for no reason. Shedeur Sanders has a lot of baggage to go with his rather unimpressive tape. He plays similarly to Pickett, which is worth about a second- or a third-round pick in the draft, but that is far from the least of his concerns. The Browns took as big of a risk as a team could possibly take when trading up into the fifth round.

Sanders reportedly had horrible interview after horrible interview, as everyone saw him a cocky, arrogant kid that had no plans of taking football seriously. Having that attitude will hurt anybody's draft stock, but it can be revived if the talent is there. Being compared to Pickett did not help out at all, and the NFL sent a message to him by not drafting him with any meaningful picks.

Not only that, but there were allegations of Sanders' dad, Deion Sanders, wanting to meddle with whichever team he played for, and he is still employed at the college level instead of the pros. With everything in mind, it makes sense why he fell as far as he did. The Browns' quarterback room was already questionable, and it became even more volatile with this pick. Many people wanted the Steelers to select him, but most of their minds have changed after his historic draft slide.

What do you think about the Steelers' quarterback room being defended after everything the Browns did? Let us know in the comments or on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.

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