Mel Kiper of ESPN has the Steelers taking Jalen Hurts in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
I think that's insanity.
Sure, Ben Roethlisberger is 38-years-old and coming off of elbow surgery. The Steelers still won't draft his heir apparent this year.
Every move that Kevin Colbert has made over the last few years has shown that winning NOW is a priority. Colbert is thinking about hanging it up in the near future. For him, it's about the present.
Colbert traded up into the top-10 last year to select Devin Bush. He traded this year's first round pick in order to get Minkah Fitzpatrick. This offseason, he signed Eric Ebron to a two-year deal. Colbert doesn't appear to be interested in the future.
Drafting Hurts wouldn't help the team this year. You know what else it would do? Piss off Ben Roethlisberger.
It doesn't make sense to draft a quarterback when Ben is going to be around for this year and next. His price tag will be 40 million guaranteed dollars in 2021. He's going to be the starting QB.
What that means is that Hurts will sit behind Roethlisberger for two years, then get two years to prove himself before he'd hit free agency.
One of the benefits of drafting a good, young quarterback is that they're cost controlled. That means you can build a great roster around the young player. Think Seattle in Wilson's early years, or the Chiefs right now.
If the Steelers draft Hurts, and he turns out to be good, then that would be a solid development, but they wouldn't be able to take advantage of four quality seasons of a cheap quarterback.
The next two seasons should be about getting Ben Roethlisberger whatever he needs to become a Super Bowl champion for the third time in his career. After that, the team can bottom out and draft an heir in the first round.