Eye On The Draft: Breaking Down The Quarterbacks
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The 2018 draft is 10 days away and all eyes locally will be on the Pittsburgh Steelers as they look to rebuild from a season that ended in disappointment.
The team was confident, maybe a little too confident, trash talking the Jaguars before the game and fixated on an assumed rematch with the Patriots in the AFC Championship. Instead, the Steelers were wholly unprepared for a Jaguars team that already beat them once this season. They lost again, 45-42
The 2018 NFL Draft will be the 83rd annual meeting of National Football League franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft will be held from April 26 to 28. It will be held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Each day we'll break down the needs of the Steelers, who's available, and who they might target.
Let's start with the quarterbacks:
The Steelers have quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
Ben Roethlisberger has been good for nearly seven years now—good here being descriptive of public behavior, not morality, the way it's applied to a heedful child or a docile dog. By all appearances the Steelers' quarterback has acted like a cordial, civilized adult off the field, while on it he has proved to be one of the singular talents in NFL history. Whether that combination signals maturity—much less true redemption—is anyone's guess.
Quarterback Josh Dobbs has been backing up Roethlisberger for the past year. He didn't see any action except for preseason.
But for his career he has a 23-12 record, 3-0 in Bowl games, as a starting quarterback, tying for the fifth-most wins by a starting signal caller in program history…set school records for career rushing yards by a quarterback (2,160), career rushing touchdowns by a quarterback (32), single-season rushing yards by a quarterback (831 in 2016) and single-season rushing touchdowns by a quarterback (12 in 2016)…ranked fifth in Tennessee history in career passing yards (7,138) and his 9,360 yards of total offense (7,138 passing, 2,160 rushing and 62 receiving) rank third in school annals…one of three quarterbacks in SEC history to record 15 passing touchdowns and 10 rushing scores in multiple seasons…one of four conference quarterbacks to have over 50 career passing touchdowns and 25 career rushing scores.
Who the Steelers might target in the draft and why:
Baker Mayfield, Quarterback - Oklahoma
Mayfield finished his career as one of the most decorated quarterbacks in college football history, topping it off by winning the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award, Davey O'Brien Award, and the Big 12 Championship and a spot in the 2017 College Football Playoff. Mayfield completed 70.5 percent of his passes (285-of-404), throwing 43 touchdowns against just six interceptions (also rushing for 311 yards and five scores). The Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year led the nation in pass efficiency by a large margin (setting a NCAA record that he himself set the previous year) and yards per pass attempt (11.8), and finished in the top five of pretty much every other passing category. He was an all-state pick from Texas, but his lack of size scared major college programs away. He began his college days in Lubbock, walking on at Texas Tech. In his one and only season there
Josh Rosen, Quarterback - UCLA
One of the top recruits of the 2015 class, Rosen decided to stay close to home to play his ball in Westwood. He was a first-team USA Today All-American as a high school senior, throwing for 3,186 yards and 29 touchdowns while his St. John Bosco squad won the California State Championship. UCLA coaches saw enough of his talent in the spring of 2015 (he graduated from high school one semester early) that they made him the first Bruin freshman opening-weekend starter ever. He won Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and several Freshman All-American honors after setting several school records and completing 60 percent (292-487) of his passes for 3,668 yards and 23 touchdowns (11 interceptions).
