It’s not at all out of the question for the Pittsburgh Steelers to select a quarterback early in the 2021 NFL draft. Despite reports that Ben Roethlisberger will return to the team this season, the front office acknowledges that there must be a plan for his successor.
But former NFL general manager and current NFL Network analyst Charlie Casserly just gets Steeler Nation’s hopes too far with his new one-round mock draft.
Casserly has four quarterbacks who come off the board in the first round, which is quite common among NFL draft experts. He also has the Steelers selecting that fourth quarterback with the No. 24 overall pick. The spoiler here is Casserly, former Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields, who fell to that choice.
While the Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger plan to continue their collaboration, I don’t see the veteran playing much longer. In a mind-boggling turn of events, Fields slides all the way to number 24 (it obviously won’t be a surprise if he goes much earlier) and Pittsburgh seizes the opportunity to get a talented successor to Big Ben. Being a year behind a future Hall of Famer is an excellent place for the Ohio State prospect.
This kind of scenario is completely wishful thinking. I’m not ruling out Fields being the third or even fourth quarterback on the board, given how different the two prospects are. There are certainly teams that Fields is not the best fit for. That said, if Fields drops out of the Top 10, there will be plenty of teams out to get him and Pittsburgh could be one of them.