2019 NFL Draft: First-round re-draft where Patriots and Steelers grab QBs

Original pick: Devin Bush, Linebacker, Michigan

Another big loser in this first round redraft in the Pittsburgh Steelers. They made a splash by trading up into the top 10 to select a very talented linebacker out of Michigan, and I believe that Devin Bush displayed throughout his rookie season that he was worth the move.

Now with Bush off the board, the Steelers may opt to stand pat and not make the trade up to this spot. But since they did make a pick here at 10 in the original 2019 NFL Draft, they’re going to do so in this redraft. And the more I think about it, the more I think this scenario would be realistic knowing what we know today.

Heading into the 2019 NFL season, the Steelers thought they were pretty well-off at the quarterback position. They had veteran Ben Roethlisberger who was healthy and who they believed had enough left in the tank to lead a successful season. And if anything were to happen to Big Ben? They a third-round pick the year prior on Mason Rudolph, a guy that they believed had a ton of potential as the heir apparent to Roethlisberger.

But with Ben suffering a season-ending injury and Rudolph playing wildly inconsistent and suffering an injury of his own, the Steelers soon found Devlin Hodges leading the team under center. The undrafted rookie played well at times, but the Steelers were unable to make the playoffs in 2019, despite coming rather close even with their poor quarterback play.

What if the Steelers had a very talented rookie who showed a lot of promise in the few games he ended up playing in 2019? Drew Lock was a prospect with a ton of potential coming into the 2019 NFL Draft, with many feeling that we would be selected in the top half of the first round.

But after falling to the second round, the Denver Broncos, the very team that traded the 10th overall pick to the Steelers, took a chance on him. And while he still clearly has room to develop as a young gunslinger, Lock showed a lot of good signs in his five starts. Signs that any franchise would be happy with looking forward to the future, and signs that the Steelers would have loved down the stretch of the 2019 season.

Lock put up decent numbers in his five games, but the most impressive stat for the young quarterback was his 4-1 record as a starter. The Broncos beat everyone they played but the Super Bowl bound Chiefs with Drew Lock, and with some of the throws that Lock was able to make, the Broncos (or the Steelers) will be happy to turn over the reigns of their offense to Drew Lock for the forseeable future.