The Pittsburgh Steelers did a lot of work on Ty Simpson last fall, getting a good look at the Alabama quarterback before he declared for the 2026 NFL Draft.

Now, with new head coach Mike McCarthy in charge, the widely held belief is that the Steelers will look long and hard at drafting a quarterback in the first round in late April. And Simpson makes the most sense, considering the Steelers pick No. 21 in the first round.

Of course, that belief has changed in recent weeks as many local reporters — and even national analysts — don’t believe the Steelers will draft a quarterback in the first round, all but ruling out Simpson. But for FS1’s Colin Cowherd, the Steelers would be the ideal landing spot for Simpson.

Even if he doesn’t believe Simpson is a true first-round quarterback.

“If he went to Pittsburgh with Mike McCarthy, yeah, people are saying Pittsburgh. Well, it’s different. The [Mike] Tomlin group I didn’t think had the offensive sensibility, a bit tone deaf, couldn’t run the ball consistently. Mike McCarthy is good with quarterbacks, so if he went to Pittsburgh and sat behind Aaron Rodgers for a year, that would work,” Cowherd said of Simpson. “McCarthy would be great for him. McCarthy’s had Cooper Rush and Dak [Prescott] and Aaron. McCarthy’s been around the block. That’s about as good as [Simpson] could do. Stable ownership in Pittsburgh.

“I like their running game. I think their o-line’s pretty good. Honestly, if I had to pick a spot for him, it’s not a big media town, he wouldn’t have to play right away. If Aaron Rodgers came back, you know, you could say, well, they have Aaron and Will Howard. What, you couldn’t have Will Howard and Ty Simpson both taking reps? So, Pittsburgh works to me.”

The Steelers have stated repeatedly this offseason that they believe in Howard, who hasn’t taken a single NFL snap in a preseason game — and missed much of his rookie season with injury, limiting him to just practice reps. After all, he was a sixth-round pick for a reason, so that’s a lot of trust to put into that developmental basket.

But if the Steelers could draft Simpson without having to move up, could sitting one year behind Rodgers and developing alongside Howard really be that bad of a thing?

He wouldn’t have the pressure to play right away, taking away some of the concerns about his limited experience in college with just 15 career starts. He’d be partnered with a guy many believe is a QB guru among NFL circles in McCarthy, and he’d be in a stable environment like Cowherd pointed out with consistent ownership, veteran leaders on both sides of the football, and a relatively quiet town in Pittsburgh.

That could be good for Simpson. It would be a heck of lot better than landing in places like New York, Arizona, Cleveland, or elsewhere.

We’ll see what happens. There’s some buzz about Simpson at 21 overall, even if the Steelers weren’t heavily represented at Alabama Pro Day Wednesday. If Simpson comes in for a pre-draft visit, the buzz will be deafening.