Stephen A. Smith is expecting a poor 2025 season start for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who are in the “NFL’s worst position” with a depth chart that doesn’t feature Aaron Rodgers or Shedeur SandersShedeur Sanders was drafted by the Cleveland BrownsShedeur Sanders was drafted by the Cleveland Browns(Image: Getty Images)

According to ESPN’s First Take panelists, the Pittsburgh Steelers are in the worst place an NFL franchise can be.

The trio of Stephen A. Smith, Ryan Clark, and Damien Woody think the team isn’t bad enough for a complete rebuild or good enough to win the Super Bowl, let alone make noise in the postseason. Smith added that the team blew a huge opportunity to not select Shedeur Sanders in the 2025 NFL Draft while waiting on Aaron Rodgers.

“How do you not draft Shedeur Sanders?” Smith said on the show. “That’s just further evidence that something other than football tainted Shedeur coming into the draft. No excuse for him to fall that low, and no excuse for a franchise like the Steelers, who’ve been searching for a quarterback for years, to not pick him.”

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The segment aired after ESPN released Pittsburgh’s schedule for the first nine weeks of the 2025 season. Dan Orlovsky predicted the team could start 0-6, with games against the Jets, Seahawks, Patriots, Vikings, a Week 5 bye, and then matchups against the Browns and Ravens.

Smith and Ryan Clark agreed with Orlovsky’s take, with Clark saying that the team could manage one win above .500 next season.

They all agreed that Pittsburgh’s offense lacks firepower after trading away George Pickens and deciding to roll with Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson as their top quarterbacks.

“You can’t be expected to win football games like this,” said Smith about the QBs. Clark then steered the conversation toward a team adding Rodgers, who has been linked to Pittsburgh dating back prior to the draft.

Woody said that the worst place an NFL team could be in is the middle of the standings and that Rodgers would have the team win games, but ultimately, not everything.

The six-time Super Bowl champions finished last season with a 10-7 record, lost in the Wild Card round back-to-back seasons, and haven’t won a playoff game since 2016.

Stephen A. Smith made his feelings clearStephen A. Smith made his feelings clear(Image: ESPN)

After falling to the fifth round, Sanders was scooped up by the Cleveland Browns, who had already taken Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel in Round 3. Smith then slammed the Steelers for ignoring Sanders as each pick passed across the three-day event.

“If you expect to be good enough to compete, that’s middle of the road. At least he [Sanders] would spend this season developing so he could be there in the future as opposed to still looking for [a quarterback],” he said.

Clark argued that even if the Steelers had landed Rodgers, the locker room tension between a four-time MVP and the most popular rookie in football would’ve become a distraction. He also questioned if the team gave up too early on Justin Fields, who was let go after playing less than a full season with the team.

The Steelers finished last year 10-7, only to lose once again in the Wild Card round by the Ravens, 28-18. It marked their second straight first-round playoff exit and their eighth straight season without a postseason win.

For Clark, the team needs a new head coach after calling Mike Tomlin a Hall of Famer, but saying his voice “has gone stale” in that locker room after 18 straight years with the team.