The Pittsburgh Steelers were forced to address the quarterback position this off-season after Ben Roethlisberger's retirement. It was clear from the start that the team had no confidence whatsoever in Mason Rudolph being the guy. While Rudolph made it to the team's initial 53-man roster on Tuesday, he's still the third-string.
Credit: Jordan Schofield/SteelerNation (JSKO_PHOTO Twitter)
The front office reinforced the quarterback position in a big way, starting off by signing veteran Mitch Trubisky. Although he provides a legitimate option as a starter, the team wasn't done yet. Kenny Pickett was selected in the first round, 20th overall, in the 2022 NFL Draft. Then, in a shocking move, the Steelers picked Chris Oladokun in the seventh round with their final pick.
Fast forward to just over a week away from the regular season, and the Oladokun pick has already proved to be worthless. While the aforementioned trio battled it out in camp and the three preseason games, it left Oladokun without any chance of earning reps. Just a few days ago, he was released before the 53-man roster was finalized. Everyone assumed that meant it was a foregone conclusion he would end up on the team's practice squad, and on Wednesday, that did not end up being the case. The Kansas City Chiefs signed the rookie quarterback to their practice squad.
We have signed the following players to our practice squad:
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) August 31, 2022
QB Chris Oladokun
WR Cornell Powell
C Austin Reiter
DT Danny Shelton
DT Taylor Stallworth
The Oladokun selection is frustrating for a multitude of reasons. Yes, you can say it was a harmless selection that late in the draft. Well, look at some of the guys drafted after him. Offensive tackle Rasheed Walker, who came out of Penn State, surprisingly slid to the seventh round. But on Tuesday, he officially made the Green Bay Packers' 53-man roster. It sure would be nice to have a young, talented tackle right now, just to at least back up the current starters. Instead, the team went out and traded for Jesse Davis, a guy that has a ton of starting experience but hasn't exactly been a standout player in his six-year career.
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - JANUARY 2: Jesse Davis #77 of the Miami Dolphins walks off the field after a game against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium on January 2, 2022, in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans defeated the Dolphins 34-3. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
If you want to even look at the two quarterbacks picked after Oladokun, Skylar Thompson and Mr. Irrelevant, Brock Purdy, were two of the better QBs in the preseason. Those two ended up making their respective teams' opening 53-man rosters. Jeffrey Gunter, Isiah Pacheco and Samori Toure are just a few more guys that were selected after Oladokun and made the 53-man roster on their teams.
While Oladokun's selection was later in the seventh round, look at what the Steelers were able to do with their other seventh round pick in Mark Robinson. He impressed the team enough to make the team and possibly play a key backup role on defense in 2022. This can make the pick of the rookie quarterback even more frustrating, as the team could have gotten tremendous value with two good seventh-round picks.
It was Kevin Colbert's last draft as general manager of the Steelers, and early on, the returns seem to be encouraging. Pickett, Robinson, George Pickens and DeMarvin Leal all seem to be key pieces of the team's future. It's hard to be critical of a draft that produces those players, although it is still too early to tell how good the class is. With that being said, it's those kind of throwaway draft picks that the Steelers need to avoid in the future with Omar Khan now at the helm.
Credit: Don Wright / AP Photo
Steeler Nation, do you agree with this criticism? Who would you have selected in the seventh round instead? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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