The Pittsburgh Steelers went out and signed Mitchell Trubisky within hours of the free agency tampering period beginning. But that move doesn't seem to matter to most when it comes to whether the Steelers will draft a quarterback or not.
Whether you're looking at ESPN's latest mock draft, or wherever you frequently get your draft news, the usual choice for the Steelers is a quarterback. We've seen them linked to Sam Howell, Kenny Pickett, Desmond Ridder, Carson Strong, and Matt Corral. The most frequent though is Liberty stud, Malik Willis.
In the latest mock draft on the Pro Football Network, they predict that the Steelers will move all the way up to pick #5 to select Willis. With that move will come a large price to pay.
Steelers Receive:
2022 Pick #5 from New York Giants
Giants Receive:
2022 Pick #20, and Pick #52 from Pittsburgh Steelers
2023 1st Round Pick and 2nd Round Pick from Pittsburgh Steelers
This is what they had to say about the move:
"Here. We. Go! As Malik Willis has risen throughout the pre-draft process, there has been one team that has been with him every step of the way. There have been multiple meetings between Willis and key components of the Steelers’ organization, including the infamous chicken wing dinner with Mike Tomlin that left the Liberty QB grinning from ear to ear.Having traded with the Giants, Pittsburgh pounces for their Ben Roethlisberger replacement. Willis gives the Steelers a big-armed quarterback with game-changing creativity on the ground. The recent signing of Mitchell Trubisky means Willis doesn’t need to start immediately, removing pressure and allowing him the time that he’ll need to develop."
The likelihood of this happening is probably slim to none. The Steelers packaging all of that draft capital to move up that high doesn't seem like a move they would want to commit to this season. If they wouldn't of signed Trubisky, then maybe they would feel differently. Maybe they would've felt like they absolutely needed to get a quarterback this off-season via the NFL Draft, and would commit to something like this. But the urgency isn't there.
If Trubisky isn't worthy of keeping around in 2023, the Steelers could likely be picking much higher in 2023 than they are in 2022. That would allow them to potentially burn less draft capital to move up, and the 2023 quarterback class is expected to be much better than the 2022 class.
It's also noteworthy that Pro Football Network only has one more quarterback being selected in the first round of this mock draft, and it's Pitt's Kenny Pickett. They have Pickett being selected at #6 directly after the Steelers select Willis. Carolina owner David Tepper, who formerly was a minority owner of the Steelers, is reportedly in love with Pickett. So it's a very big possibility that Pickett could go off the board at #6.
If the Steelers stay put at pick #20 and the Panthers do decide to grab Pickett that early, then it could set off a chain reaction of quarterbacks being selected. We've seen this happen with quarterbacks very often, and with other positions like cornerback and receiver. Teams start panicking and all logic goes out the window.
Don't count on the Steelers going the whole way up to pick #5. That would go against everything we've seen in recent Steelers history from Kevin Colbert. He's only traded up twice during his tenure with the Steelers and he likely doesn't want to leave the cabinet bare of draft picks for the incoming general manager. This scenario just has too many holes, so don't count on it happening Steelers fans.
