The 2025 season isn’t over yet. But like the rest of the NFL, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ scouting department is hard at work prepping for the future. The Steelers know they’ll need to add at least one quarterback for the 2026 season, so they’re scouting draft-eligible quarterbacks while the pro scouts are looking at potential veteran options.
So, what will the Steelers do? Will they try to package multiple picks to move up in the draft to get a potential franchise quarterback? Or will they continue the trend of relying on veterans? Either way, analyst Diante Lee has no faith that the Steelers will make it work.
“Pittsburgh desperately needs a new long-term option at quarterback, but we have no reason to trust that this franchise knows how to get one (or develop one, for that matter),” Lee wrote Thursday for The Ringer. “The Steelers are woefully behind the curve in play-action usage, generating explosive plays, and scheming players open. And as long as head coach Mike Tomlin is running the show, I don’t expect anything to change. His philosophy is so deeply rooted in avoiding risks and turning games into a war of attrition that I’m not sure I’d even want a young passer to play for him. Even if the Steelers were bad enough to get in range to draft a talented prospect, being in Pittsburgh seems like a surefire way for a rookie to never reach his full potential.”
The Steelers certainly don’t have a good offense this year. NFL film guru Greg Cosell is completely befuddled by it. And fixing it entails much more than finding a potential franchise quarterback. The Steelers can’t run or pass effectively right now. And Lee argues that part of the issue is philosophical, at least in terms of passing the ball.
We all know that Mike Tomlin is risk-avoidant. He’s got a defensive background. He wants to play a conservative, ball-control offense that protects his defense by keeping the ball for long stretches of time. And that was a great philosophy a couple of decades ago.
But this is 2025, and the NFL is a passing league. The best teams are the those with good quarterbacks and offenses built around them. Yes, ball-control offenses can limit possessions. And Tomlin wants to make opposing offenses one-dimensional so the Steelers’ stable of pass rushers can tee off. However, the best way of doing that is by scoring early and often. And the Steelers aren’t doing that.
The Steelers are not making their offense a quarterback-friendly one, either by scheme or personnel. As Lee says, they aren’t scheming ways to get players open. But they also don’t have proven NFL talent at the wide receiver position outside of WR DK Metcalf. That’s a recipe for disaster if you’re a young, unproven quarterback.
So, in Lee’s view, the Steelers have multiple reasons to worry about quarterback development. Then what the heck do the Steelers do next year? They can’t bring QB Aaron Rodgers back, right? Much like Lee has no faith in the Steelers developing young quarterbacks under Tomlin, he has no faith that they’ll make inspired moves this offseason, either.
“I’d imagine that Pittsburgh will do the most predictable thing possible,” Lee wrote. “That means signing a guy like Tyrod Taylor to be the starter, then trading for a quarterback like Anthony Richardson as a half-hearted attempt to bring in a player with a high ceiling. Those two would trade off weeks of being mediocre, and the Steelers defense would force an ungodly number of turnovers and drag this team to 7-10 while fans in Acrisure Stadium wave their towels in disgust.”
That screams the Steelers’ 2024 offseason to me. Sign QB Russell Wilson and then trade for QB Justin Fields. And yes, the Steelers made the playoffs. But they lost their last five games, including to the Baltimore Ravens in the playoffs. And the offense was lackluster throughout that losing streak. Lee’s idea of uninspired moves doesn’t give me a whole lot of confidence.
But is there anything to suggest that the Steelers will do something different? They’ve drafted one first-round quarterback since two-time Super Bowl champion QB Ben Roethlisberger retired. And that was QB Kenny Pickett. Otherwise, the most they’ve done at the quarterback position is sign old veterans and trade for Fields. And nothing has worked so far.
Is it Mike Tomlin’s fault? Is it the scouting department? Or is it some combination? Honestly, with problems this big, there is plenty of blame to go around. But the decision makers either need to show some ability to grow and evolve, or ownership needs to make some changes.
And does anyone feel good about either of those?