NFL Draft Rumors: Steelers High on Jaxson Dart, Will Howard; Heavily Scouted 5-6 QBs

Mar 15, 2025

If the Pittsburgh Steelers address the quarterback position at April's NFL draft, two names worth monitoring are Ole Miss' Jaxson Dart and Ohio State's Will Howard.

"I know they like Dart and I know they like Howard despite how he looked at the NFL Scouting Combine," the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Gerry Dulac said Thursday on The Rich Eisen Show (10:50 mark). "There were about five or six guys they scouted at the combine heavily. But I would say probably those two if you were looking for somebody higher than normal, as opposed to maybe a fourth- or fifth-round pick."

The Steelers might have to use the No. 21 overall pick to land Dart. While he ranks No. 48 on the B/R NFL Scouting Department's latest big board, there has been buzz that Dart could be a first-round pick.

In fact, The Athletic's Jeff Howe reported earlier in March that "teams believed Dart solidified himself as a first-rounder during his week at the Senior Bowl. And last week at the combine, two teams strongly believed Dart would be taken in the top half of the opening round."

Dart set career highs in passing yards (4,279), touchdowns (29) and completion percentage (69.3 percent) during his senior season at Ole Miss. While Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders have received a ton of hype atop the quarterback rankings, it's very possible that it could be Dart who is the second quarterback off the board, not Sanders.

Howard, meanwhile, is actually ranked ahead of Dart on the B/R NFL Scouting Department's big board at No. 54, though there's been less buzz on him potentially sneaking into the first round. He's been more regularly grouped together with the middle tier of available quarterbacks at this draft like Alabama's Jalen Milroe, Syracuse's Kyle McCord, Texas' Quinn Ewers, Louisville's Tyler Shough and Oregon's Dillon Gabriel.

If the Steelers have eyes for Howard, they can likely wait until the second day to nab him.

For now, there remains uncertainty about how the Steelers will approach their quarterback situation in 2025. Aaron Rodgers has yet to make his decision, leaving both Pittsburgh and another veteran quarterback, free agent Russell Wilson, in limbo.

Even if the Steelers turn to either Rodgers or Wilson, however, that's a short-term option. At some point, the Steelers need to find a long-term franchise quarterback, something they've failed to do since Ben Roethlisberger retired.