The Pittsburgh Steelers have been searching for a quarterback for the past few years. Ben Roethlisberger began showing his signs of age before eventually retiring this past off-season. Mason Rudolph was selected in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft. He was drafted to be Roethlisberger’s successor, but that hasn’t exactly worked out.
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That became quite obvious in the eight games that he started in 2019 when Roethlisberger went down with an injury. Rudolph was eventually benched for Devlin "Duck" Hodges, who hasn't exactly done anything in the NFL outside of Pittsburgh. In the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft, former GM Kevin Colbert had the perfect opportunity to right his wrongful pick.
This quarterback played in the biggest of games for two of the most prestigious programs in college football. That's right, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback, Jalen Hurts. Hurts has seemingly been counted out his whole life, even despite being a good QB in college. Alabama head coach Nick Saban famously benched Hurts in favor of Tua Tagovailoa, leading to him transferring to Oklahoma.
Hurts came into the NFL at a time in which mobile quarterbacks were really starting to take over the league. While he's not a run-heavy quarterback like a Lamar Jackson, he can utilize his legs quite well. In 2021, Hurts ran for 784 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground in 15 games. The Steelers, still with Roethlisberger behind center and another immobile option in Rudolph, hadn't yet caught on to the new trend.
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When Roethlisberger announced his retirement this past off-season, that's when head coach Mike Tomlin finally started acknowledging the importance of having a mobile QB. That was one of the most important traits that they looked for in their new signal-caller, as they went on to sign Mitch Trubisky in free agency. They followed that by drafting Kenny Pickett in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft. Those are two guys who can utilize their legs quite well, contrary to what Pittsburgh has had for the last 20 years.
Reverting back to Hurts, he recently appeared on Travis and Jason Kelce's podcast. Jason is obviously his teammate on the Eagles, while Jason's brother Travis plays tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, if you didn't know. On the "NewHeights" podcast, Hurts told the brothers that he thought he was going to end up in Pittsburgh:
"I thought I was going to Pittsburgh. So when I saw [a Pennsylvania phone number], I thought, 'This is it.' They said [it was] the Philadelphia Eagles," Hurts admitted to the Kelce brothers. "I had no idea I would come here."
Hindsight is always 20/20, first and foremost. With that being said, many people linked Hurts to the Steelers in the pre-draft process. It's unclear just how much interest the team had in him, but for Hurts to say that, it had to have been quite a bit. Colbert ultimately probably couldn't swallow taking a second quarterback in the first three rounds within a three-year span with Roethlisberger still in town.
Ultimately, Hurts would have had to sit his first year or two, while he got to go through those growing pains with the Eagles. Colbert ended up taking WR Chase Claypool just four picks before Hurts. Things didn't go so well with Claypool after a promising rookie season, as he was just recently traded to the Chicago Bears.
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His career may not have ended in stardom like it has now if Colbert drafted him in the second round. Just a few weeks ago, we saw in live action just how good he is, as he torched the Steelers secondary at Acrisure Stadium. Still, it's crazy to think about and at this point, anyone would take him over Pickett. That's no disrespect to the rookie either, as he still has plenty of time to develop and get better. Hurts though, has developed into one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL this season.
At the time, did you want the Steelers to select Hurts? How much different would this team look if the black and gold picked him? Would you take him over Pickett for the future? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!
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