It’s been no secret the Steelers have been looking at every quarterback they could possibly draft next month, and head coach Mike Tomlin all but admitted that is what position they will take.
Speaking to Missi Matthews exclusively on Steelers.com over the weekend says that “the draft is our target as we sit here today,” as they look to add a fourth quarterback to compete going into training camp.
The other quarterbacks currently signed are Mason Rudolph, Dwayne Haskins and Mitch Trubisky, recently added in free agency.
Echoing outgoing General Manager Kevin Colbert, Tomlin says the starting quarterback will not automatically be Trubisky.
“We’d be naïve to not take that approach,” Tomlin said speaking about a quarterback competition. “That being said you know we’re excited about acquiring Mitch, we do believe that he has the talents to win the job, but he’s going to have to win it.”
On a conference call over the weekend, Colbert said just because they signed Trubisky doesn’t mean they won’t draft a quarterback.
Last week, the Steelers took at a look at Kenny Pickett at Pitt’s Pro Day. They then went to Liberty to see Malik Willis, Ole Miss to see Matt Corral on Wednesday and that same night, Tomlin flew from Mississippi to Cincinnati to have dinner with Desmond Ridder before the Bearcats Pro Day on Thursday.
Willis and Pickett are reportedly the two quarterbacks the Steelers are most interested in, with most mocks showing Pickett coming off the board before the Steelers pick at 20.
While most mocks also have Willis falling off the board before the Steelers can pick, a few show Willis falling into the second round.
Tomlin is well aware that his favorite quarterbacks could be off the board by 20 saying, “there’s so many moving parts in draft development and so that’s our target but we’ll see what happens and transpires, obviously how the names come off the board have a lot to do with that.”
So while anything can happen on draft day, it sure sounds like the Steelers are locked in at drafting a quarterback, at least early on in the draft if not at pick 20.