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Steelers Planning To Take Jalen Hurts In 2020 NFL Draft?

Steelers Planning To Take Jalen Hurts In 2020 NFL Draft?

Steelers Planning To Take Jalen Hurts In 2020 NFL Draft?

Are the Steelers planning to take Jalen Hurts in the 2020 NFL Draft?

Given the amount of injuries to key positions that Pittsburgh sustained this past season, the team’s 2019 campaign was very impressive.

Somehow, with a mishmash of Devlin Hodges and Mason Rudolph at the quarterback position, the Steelers came within one victory of making it to the NFL Playoffs.

As we saw between the New England Patriots and Tennessee Titans, once you’re in, anything can happen at that point.

The big question for Mike Tomlin’s team at this stage is what they can learn from 2019.

One of the biggest lessons has to be that it is time to begin preparing for the post-Ben Roethlisberger era.

Roethlisberger has pledged to return from injury stronger than ever next season, but even if he does, a succession plan needs to be developed.

The sample size on what Rudolph and Hodges bring to the table may have been small, but it was still relatively telling.

Hodges is a third-string quarterback in the NFL. That is his ceiling. Rudolph is a solid back-up, but even if he were healthy, it is 50-50 whether he could step up and be a competent starter over a full season.

So where does that leave the Steelers?

According to a recent column from Sports Illustrated, it may just leave them with Oklahoma star quarterback Jalen Hurts.

Obviously Joe Burrow and Tua Tagovailoa will be off the board by the time Pittsburgh is drafting, so those guys are not options.

Hurts, though? He will still be available.

As noted by Sports Illustrated, the case for drafting him is pretty clear.

“Hurts, a 2019 Heisman Trophy finalist, provides a formidable mobile presence at the quarterback position,” it reads.

“After departing Alabama for one last season with the Sooners, Hurts has progressed as a passer.

“He’s not quite the athlete that Lamar Jackson that is, and he’s nowhere near Peyton Manning in terms of accuracy, yet he possesses the building blocks of both worlds.”

ESPN NFL Draft insiders Mel Kiper and Todd McShay have both said that Hurts will likely not be a first round pick. That means the opportunity to take him in the second or third round will exist for Pittsburgh.

Will the Steelers ultimately take a quarterback that early in the draft? If this past season proved anything, it is that they don’t have much of a choice.

Related: Mike McCarthy Offers Smart Take On Cowboys Quarterback

Anthony Amador

A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.

7 Comments

    1. Because Landry Jones wasn’t any good. He didn’t move the offense when he did play for Pittsburgh and if he were any good, he would have been on a roster this season instead of watching most of it from his couch.

  1. Steelers need to fire mike TOMLIN he sucks and HELL NO DO WE WANT THIS JALEN HURT QB DUDE IS JUST ANOTHER FLASH IN TYE PAN WE ALREADY HAD KORDELL STEWART THAT WAS ENOUGH I FEEL IF GIVEN TIME MASON RUDOLPH IS THE FUTURE

    1. You don’t know football 🏈 mike did wonders with what he had. Those second rated quarterbacks will not start for any team in the league, did you see the results. If you notice defenses are getting bigger and faster you need quarterbacks that are mobile and can get out the pocket and throw, most coaches would have not won any games with the roster mike had.

      1. His comment sounds extremely racially motivated….to say fire Tomlin is insane and to say that Mason Rudolph is the future and Jalen is a flash in the pan sounds very suspect to me. #IJS

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