The Steelers surprised many as pick after pick went by in the 2025 NFL Draft and they continued to watch Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders slide throughout the draft. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the reason Pittsburgh never made the call was because the organization “did not reach a consensus on Sanders as a slam dunk pick.” 
The Steelers came into the draft with a need at quarterback. Sure, they were (and still are) in talks with veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers, but nothing had been signed or decided on that front, and even if it had been, Rodgers is 41 years old and is three full years removed from playing the elite level of ball we’ve come to associate him with. Securing a top passing prospect would have still been a smart move if Rodgers ends up on the roster because it would give them a student to learn and develop behind him.
Pittsburgh did end up taking a quarterback in the draft, but that selection wouldn’t come until late into Day 3, when Will Howard was selected in the sixth round. Following the departures of one-year rentals Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, Howard joins a group that contains former Steelers backup Mason Rudolph and former Dolphins backup Skylar Thompson. Both have seen time as starters in injury replacement situations in their careers, and while Rudolph has fared decently in his opportunities, neither quarterback inspires much confidence heading into the 2025 season.
This begs the question: why didn’t Pittsburgh take a swing on a quarterback earlier? Or, if they knew they were going to wait to select one, why, when they saw Sanders freefalling round after round, did they not take a flyer on his obvious potential?
One can certainly see where they liked the value they were getting for versatile Oregon defensive tackle Derrick Harmon as a potential eventual replacement for Cameron Heyward or the hole-filling potential of third-round Iowa rusher Kaleb Johnson, who could compete with Jaylen Warren for some serious carries. But once the fourth round rolled around and Sanders, a projected first- or second-round pick, was still around, how important was it to add Jack Sawyer to blend in with a group that already contains T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, and Nick Herbig? Does Sawyer add more value to that group that Sanders would’ve to a position that only contained Rudolph and Thompson at the time? The Steelers will need to hope so.
Ultimately, Fowler tells us that the team was “comfortable with (Sanders) as a distributing point guard type,” but they couldn’t all agree that he was “a slam dunk pick.” It’s true that a knock on Sanders was his reliance on screens, quick passes, and checkdowns — only 23.7 percent of his completions at Colorado were on throws over 10 yards.
Regardless, his playing style helped him to finish fourth in the country in yards per game while throwing 37 touchdowns to 10 interceptions. Even with three extra games on his schedule, Howard did not encroach upon Sanders’ yardage or touchdown numbers last year. But the team was undecided on whether Sanders was worth the fourth-round flyer, and that led him to his new home in Cleveland.
The Steelers are still getting a quarterback who had a great completion percentage (73.0) while throwing the ball a bit more downfield (9.5 yards per attempt) and still having an impressive touchdown-interception ratio. They’ll just have to hope that Howard (and Sawyer) contribute enough to erase any doubt of the decision they made.
Sanders was trash and will be trash. The media pushing him on the Steelers was, and felt, so forced and disgusting. Steelers didn’t want him, Steelers fans didn’t want him. Get over it.
Steelers were happy to lay the smoke screen that they were interested in Sanders in the first and not the defensive lineman they so desperately wanted. That’s why I roll my eyes at all the pre-draft rumor mongering. Teams have no interest in the truth getting out so they flood the market with lies.
They didn’t want to have to deal with his dad either if he wasn’t a slam dunk.
The fact that the Steelers are STILL pining after 41 yr old Aaron Rodgers instead of drafting Sanders is ridiculous. Sounds like the Steelers need to clean house and bring in a whole new coaching staff and scouting department……..
Could be worse, they could have the scouting staff that selected Gabriel and Sanders
Because, that’s what the Steelers do.
It’s amazing that fans have become conditioned to cheer for the firing of coaches and execs like they have. How does that work out typically?
Because at a certain point you need a new voice and think tank running the team if you haven’t had serious success in years. Yeah its great that the Steelers are always above .500 but what do they actually have to show for that? Lost their last 5 playoff games, last time they even won a playoff game was 2016, and their two SB appearances under Tomlin came in 2008 and 2010. At what point does it go from “he keeps us competitive every year” to “could another coach take us further?”
Since 2017, 21 other teams have won a playoff game including the Jags and Browns; two of the laughingstock of the league teams have had more playoff success in recent history than the Steelers. If it was literally any other team, Tomlin would have been fired by now. The Steelers are fine with being mediocre as long as it’s done the Steelers Way.
Rodgers isn’t an issue for one year. It’s the fact they might be content going into the season with a Mason Rudolph Skyler Thompson QB room. It’s like they are trying to win 3 games
Or maybe Sanders isn’t actually that good.
He might not be great but for a team with no quality starting QB it was worth at least a 4th. It’s really a head scratcher that they didn’t take any of the QBs at least to have someone to try and develop (yea their recent track record of developing QBs is abysmal but you can’t just give up because you suck at it)
This…is important. Because it’s the truth. This is not my opinion, but the opinion of other NFL scouts. Unless those scouts are lying in anonymity.
Traci..you belong with your team…the dysfunctional Cleveland brown turds
Many folks are posting to get rid of coaching staff. I always ask this q, replace Tomlin and others with who?
Other teams will pick up Tomlin, no question. Look what happened with Reid when he went to the chiefs. Reid had only 1 sb appearance, and many play off wins with the eagles….went to the chiefs, got a #1 QB, and the rest is history.
Tomlin may have been sour with one and done post seasons lately, but the guy has always been above .500 since coaching the Steelers.
Get rid of him, and watch. I think he does need a change of scenery.
If the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers was Jesus H. Christ, yinzers would be like “sure he can walk on water but he can’t stop the run…some savior…”
Who would you replace him with?
Absurd question. Mike Tomlin isn’t replaceable right? He was the end of the good coaches. There’s another good coach just waiting for his opportunity just like Tomlin was.
“Absurd” as you put it is not answering the q….just talk to talk ….
@Eagleeyes…you can’t just use Andy Reid leaving and the Chiefs success as your sole justification to keep Tomlin around. Let’s also take a look at what the Eagles have done since Reids departure. 3 Super Bowls appearances and two wins. And for me and a lot of Steeler fans, Tomlin had a HOF quarterback. He had one of the best rosters in all of football and great coordinators. Bill Cowher handed the keys to a Ferrari to Mike Tomlin and the further the Steelers get away from Cowher, the more mediocre the team has become. The Steelers are now a Ford Focus. And in my opinion, it comes down to the coaching. Tomlin is a great motivator. He’s great at getting the best out of the players who willing to give it. But he needs to hire coordinators and allow them to do their job. If he’s too proud to do that, to keep his hands out of play calling, strategy, and everything…then I think a new voice needs to be brought in.
Why isn’t a total lack of agreement considered a “consensus”?
why waste a higher pick on a guy that will be a constant headache and a back up qb in the nfl? Just because you need a qb doesn’t mean you waste a higher pick on a guy that won’t fix that position. That’s what bad organizations do and they are constantly redrafting that position…ie the Browns, Jets, Titans, Indy etc….Rodgers isn’t the answer either. They should just tank with Mason Rudolph and get a qb next year……or who knows maybe Howard will be the guy. All these guys obviously have skills, but they have to be able to read a defense at the line of scrimmage to succeed.
He is a migraine headache. Every team knew about his attitude before the draft. Had nothing to do with his ability. Then having to deal with his dad was another nono.
And the idiot Mel kiper kept pushing him on the steelers. This time the steelers did the right thing.
Now if only they can get idiot Adams out of their system
Maybe that’s because Sanders isn’t a slam dunk pick.
You can’t force teams to take somebody they don’t want to take just because you want to hype him up.
Are we still rehashing this story? Face it, if he really had starter talent somebody would have ignored all the drama and taken him. NFL teams make a lot of draft mistakes, but they never miss on raw talent.
I don’t watch college. I don’t care if he’s flashy. I don’t care about Deion, good or bad. The only thing I knew about Sanders was the 60-90 seconds of B roll that NFLN or ESPN aired when talking about him.
I saw absolutely nothing (zero, zilch, zip, nada) that he would be anything more than Teddy Bridgewater. And the league agreed.
PGH passed on him for the same reason everyone else did, they saw through the hype and the inflated numbers against mediocre competition to see a below average athlete with a weak arm.
Then add an (evidently) terrible attitude and intentionally poor draft interviews on top of that.
The Browns passed on him and even took an another QB over him. Actions tell the tale.
FWIW, I’ve heard talk about Tomlin loving Will Howard (and Milroe) since last fall. After they passed on Sanders in the 4th, it was clear they weren’t taking him and I knew they’d take Howard.
And from the 30-45 seconds I’ve seen of Howard, he seems to be a big guy with a big arm who has won big games. What makes Sanders better than that?
Sanders lead the FBS in attempts, completions, yards, completion percentage, touchdowns, yards/attempt and yards/game. And set the all time record for completion percentage.
Never been in trouble off the field,.is used to the spotlight.
But yea he’s a young 20 something kid who was brash in interviews. I’m not even a huge fan but all the hate is ridiculous.
He didn’t lead the FBS in ANY of those categories.
Yea you’re correct – I was wrong, he lead the big 12.
Kind of a huge difference.
Quit making up lies
He’s done nothing to warrant the hype or the attitude.
He did all of that against mediocre competition while also not throwing the ball down field. And let’s not forget he had Travis Hunter. How much of his success is related to that?
All of the “hate” is because of all of the media attention that isn’t deserved. Period. People are sick of having Shadeur Sanders shoved down our throats because of his lineage. That’s what’s ridiculous. If he wasn’t Deion Sanders son, this wouldn’t even be a talking point. A young 20 something kid who was brash in interviews would be getting hate because it is well deserved. If you’re interviewing someone for a job and the person you are interviewing tells you that you need build your company around him, I’d like to think you’d pass. And rightly so.
For the Steelers he was absolutely worth a shot at that draft slot and their need at QB short and long term is desperate. In those rounds you take a flyer you can hopefully either develop a quality low cost back up or now and then hit on guys like Prescott, Brady, Purdy, etc… not saying he’ll be one of those if teams new who would develop in the NFL and who wouldn’t drafting a QB would be a whole lot easier. I think the idea that there wasn’t a consensus on Sanders ability to be an NFL QB is a cop out. No team has a consensus on a QB after a couple rounds. If they did theyd draft their QB a lot earlier. I guarantee there was no consensus on their 6th round QB they just used it as a QB lottery ticket. I’d much rather use my 5th round selection on a QB lottery pick that a year ago was considered 1-2 QB in the draft. Even if his interviews didnt go well I’d bet going in the 5th did the trick of humbling a little bit if teams felt he needed it
“You take a flyer you can hopefully either develop a quality low cost backup or now and then hit on guys like Prescott, Brady, Purdy, etc.”
The Steelers did that. They selected Will Howard.
“No team has a consensus on a QB after a couple of rounds.”
You’re right. So the Steelers selected Will Howard because they liked him better.
“You’d rather use your 5th round selection on a QB lottery pick that a year ago was considered 1-2 QB in the draft.”
And you aren’t an NFL scout. Nor are you a member of an NFL front office or and NFL organization period. You don’t have connections to Colorados staff. You don’t have connections to other NCAA teams in the PAC 12 or the other conferences. You don’t have connections to anything or anyone in the game of football. Guess who does? 32 NFL teams and the 100’s (or more) employees combined amongst those teams. There is a reason for the slide and it isn’t collusion. That’s absolutely absurd to even suggest. 32 teams all agreed that he just isn’t that good. To argue against 32 teams and the people who are paid to do a job you aren’t, isn’t too smart.
So after 60 seconds you decided sanders was nothing more than a backup. I suggest that you post about things you know about. And 35 seconds to say Howard is a big guy and won big games. Damn do you have anymore enlightening scouting reports?
did they not take a flyer on his obvious potential?
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There are a gazillion people there that don’t think his potential is obvious.
Wow..you are an egotistical (0)
As a lifelong Steeler fan all I can say is Thank You Lord!