As the Pittsburgh Steelers search for Ben Roethlisberger's successor, they may have someone in mind other than Mason Rudolph, Dwayne Haskins or a veteran that could be had on the trade market.
NFL Media's Daniel Jeremiah projected that the Steelers will use the No. 20 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft on Liberty quarterback Malik Willis in his latest Mock Draft. In an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show earlier this week, Jeremiah explained his reasoning:
"The buzz down there in Mobile at the Senior Bowl was that the Steelers seem to be smitten with Malik Willis. A lot of times it's like when you fire a coach, you hire the opposite. I think we can see a little bit of that too when you change quarterbacks. It doesn't get any more opposite than going from Joe Flacco to Lamar Jackson. So you stay inside the division, you go from Big Ben to Malik Willis, you get a lot more athletic. And Kevin Colbert does what Ozzie Newsome did on the way out the door, is leave the next guy a quarterback to go forward with."
While he's raw to the point that he may not be ready to be a Week 1 starter, it's not hard to imagine a team feeling that they can develop Willis into being a star quarterback.
Willis tossed 27 touchdowns to 12 interceptions in 2021, also adding 878 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground. Steelers' head coach Mike Tomlin said in an appearance on NFL Network in January that "quarterback mobility is valued," and while Willis has to be refined in other areas, he would immediately become one of the most dynamic rushing options at the position.
Of course, Willis ending up in Pittsburgh assumes that the run on quarterbacks doesn't start too early for them to be within striking distance of their potential top target. If the Carolina Panthers (pick No. 6) and Washington Commanders (pick No. 11) select quarterbacks, the Steelers may be out of luck unless they're willing to make a major trade to get into the top 10.
But NBC's Peter King predicted Tuesday that a quarterback won't be taken with one of the top 10 picks in the 2022 NFL Draft. That would seemingly be the dream scenario for the Steelers, if they are indeed high on Willis, or even University of Pittsburgh's Kenny Pickett.
Jimmy Garoppolo and Carson Wentz are two veteran quarterbacks that the Steelers could also consider trading for this offseason as they attempt to fill a void at the most important position in sports.
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