{"id":692521,"date":"2026-01-21T01:21:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T01:21:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/692521\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T01:21:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T01:21:14","slug":"top-nfl-draft-analyst-outlines-what-steelers-2026-strategy-should-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/692521\/","title":{"rendered":"Top NFL Draft Analyst Outlines What Steelers’ 2026 Strategy Should Be"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pittsburgh Steelers took a swing on Kenny Pickett in the first round of the 2022 draft. They thought he could be their next franchise quarterback. Unfortunately, that decision blew up in their faces, and the Steelers remain stuck in quarterback purgatory. While they\u2019re loaded up on draft picks this year, draft expert Daniel Jeremiah thinks that the Steelers should wait until next year to<\/a> select a quarterback.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I just laid out an offseason plan for you here, these 12 picks, I want to take at least two of these picks, you could take two third-round picks, I\u2019m getting ammunition in [2027],\u201d Jeremiah said Tuesday on his 40s and Free Agents podcast.<\/a> \u201cPeople always say, \u2018Everybody always talks about the next quarterback draft class.\u2019 I\u2019m telling you, this quarterback draft class is not great, and there are going to be bona fide dudes next year. Not that long ago, we saw six quarterbacks go in the top 12.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not saying it\u2019s to that extreme, but there\u2019s going to be talent there. If I were them, I wouldn\u2019t force the young quarterback this year. I would try and get some assets for next year. Bring in your new head coach. It might be a situation where they might have a losing season next year, something that they never had under Mike Tomlin. But it might be for the greater good.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s very similar to what many analysts said last year, and to be fair, they weren\u2019t wrong. The 2025 quarterback class didn\u2019t impress, especially the options who were available to the Steelers.<\/p>\n

Jaxson Dart showed flashes as a rookie, but he battled injuries, and it\u2019s too early to say that he\u2019s a franchise guy. Similar things could be said about other rookie signal callers like Shedeur Sanders and Tyler Shough.<\/p>\n

While Steelers fans might be frustrated if the team waits another year to find its next franchise quarterback, Jeremiah is right that this year\u2019s crop doesn\u2019t look too impressive. Fernando Mendoza looks like a stud, but the Steelers won\u2019t have a chance to draft him, barring an extreme development.<\/p>\n

Alabama\u2019s Ty Simpson might be the next<\/a> best option, but he only has one full year as a starter under his belt. There\u2019s a lot of risk attached to that. If he doesn\u2019t pan out, the Steelers could miss out on a stronger 2027 class.<\/p>\n

And that class might be worth the wait. The Steelers forced drafting Pickett. They shouldn\u2019t make that mistake twice. If they love a prospect, then they should take him in the first round. However, drafting a quarterback just because they have a need at the position isn\u2019t wise.<\/p>\n

Also, Jeremiah is correct that the Steelers could be in for a down 2026 season. Mike Tomlin often got credit for keeping them from hitting rock bottom. It remains to be seen who the Steelers\u2019 next head coach will be, but he might struggle to meet the standard set by Tomlin, especially if Pittsburgh doesn\u2019t find a quality quarterback.<\/p>\n

Art Rooney II doesn\u2019t want the Steelers to rebuild. However, a team can\u2019t win it all every year. George Seifert was the last rookie head coach to lead his team to a Super Bowl title. That was the 1989 San Francisco 49ers, and Seifert inherited a team featuring Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, and Ronnie Lott. The Steelers\u2019 roster does not have nearly that level of talent.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no guarantee that the Steelers will have a better shot at drafting a franchise<\/a> quarterback next year. However, it\u2019s something to keep in mind as draft season begins. Patience is a virtue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pittsburgh Steelers took a swing on Kenny Pickett in the first round of the 2022 draft. They…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":692522,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[7580,2856,7,6,15,57],"class_list":{"0":"post-692521","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl-draft","8":"tag-40s-and-free-agents","9":"tag-daniel-jeremiah","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-nfl-draft","13":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115930469767073557","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=692521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692521\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/692522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=692521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=692521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=692521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}