Pittsburgh Steelers: 5 Mistakes to avoid in 2020 NFL Draft

2. Picking a quarterback in the mid rounds

Drafting mid-round quarterbacks doesn’t work, at least not for Pittsburgh. Let’s take a walk down memory lane. Since the Steelers drafted Roethlisberger in 2004, the team has drafted five quarterbacks. None of them came close to challenging Roethlisberger and only a few of them succeeded as backups.

First, the Steelers drafted Bowling Green’s Omar Jacobs in the fifth round of the 2006 NFL Draft. Jacobs never played a game in the NFL. Two years later, Pittsburgh went back to the fifth round for Oregon’s Dennis Dixon. He threw two interceptions and one touchdown during his career.

In 2013, the Steelers used a fourth-round pick on Landry Jones. The Oklahoma product stuck with Pittsburgh for five seasons, going 3-2 as a starter. While Jones received a lot of disrespect for his erratic play, Steelers fans appreciate him more after this past season. Jones currently plays in the XFL for the Dallas Renegades.

In 2017, the Steelers threw away a fourth-round pick on Joshua Dobbs. The Tennessee product got traded to Jacksonville for a 2020 fifth-round draft pick after only two seasons. Pittsburgh felt confident moving on from Dobbs because the team drafted Mason Rudolph in the third round of the 2018 draft. Rudolph got benched for Devlin Hodges, an undrafted rookie from Samford, this past season.

Unless the Steelers can take one of the legitimate first-round quarterbacks, which they can’t with their draft positioning, then they shouldn’t draft a quarterback at all.