2020 NFL Draft: Late-round sleepers the Pittsburgh Steelers should target

Future Quarterback

It just wouldn’t be a report about the Steelers 2020 NFL Draft without shoehorning in a segment about what the team plans on doing at quarterback once Roethlisberger retires. Even though general manager Colbert said recently that he is comfortable going into 2020 with the quarterbacks they have on the roster, does anyone seriously believe that?

After all, this was a team whose quarterbacks lost games against the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns in 2019. This was a team whose starting quarterback lost 33-3 against the New England Patriots in Week 1. To be fair, this was also a team that stayed in the playoff hunt until Week 17, despite being the second to the worst team in scoring in 2019, per NFL.com.

Whether the team thinks Mason Rudolph, Devlin Hodges or Paxton Lynch is the future once Roethlisberger is gone, is inconsequential. Roethlisberger is 38-years-old and once your team has a quarterback that old, fans and media begin to wonder who will be his heir.

If Roethlisberger comes back in 2020 and wins a Super Bowl, these questions about the future quarterback will still matter. If he comes back and fails to produce a playoff berth in an AFC North Division that has become increasingly competitive, the 2019 season-opening loss will be recognized as “the beginning of the end” for the Roethlisberger era in Pittsburgh.

Maybe this is why Colbert wants year-to-year contracts.

Depending on what the Steelers are looking for at the quarterback position, they will have some options in the later-rounds of the 2020 NFL Draft. If they want a quarterback who once had a ton of potential, drafting Shea Patterson from Michigan could be an option. Patterson came out of high school one of the most coveted recruits in the country. But between Ole Miss and Michigan, Patterson was never able to live up to those expectations.

Patterson would be a reclamation project for the Steelers, as he failed to show any of his potential over the last four seasons. Last year was Patterson’s best scoring season, throwing 23 touchdowns. Too bad his completion rate was just 56 percent.

At 6-foot-2, 202-pounds, Patterson could best be described as an inconsistent passer. Sometimes his quick, easy release on a post route makes him look like a competent passer. It’s such a shame that he follows that up by overthrowing a slant route by five yards on third down.

To be fair to Patterson, he does have some redeeming qualities. For starters, Michigan had him using play-action a lot, a skill set that is valued in the NFL. Not to mention his long legs and skinny frame help when he decides to move the chains with his legs.

Coming out of high school as a dual-threat quarterback, Patterson succeeded when his college team’s creating running plays for him. Considering the success of Lamar Jackson in the AFC North, this would be an interesting wrinkle the Steelers could add to their offense in 2020.

The problem with Patterson being drafted by the Steelers is the offense (as it is currently constructed) was built for a gunslinger like Roethlisberger. Converting that to the quick, play-action offense that utilizes a dual-threat quarterback would be the antithesis of what the Steelers do well.

If the Steelers just want another tall quarterback, perhaps Steven Montez from Colorado would be more to their liking. Rudolph and Roethlisberger are both 6-foot-5, as is Montez, which means naturally the Steelers HAVE to draft him, right?

Montez is another inconsistent quarterback who had trouble finding open receivers in college. Like Patterson, he could sometimes string together good games, as he did in 2019 against Arizona State. Against the Sun Devils, he threw for three touchdowns and a 76 percent completion rate. Two weeks later, he threw four interceptions. The week after that, he threw for a 50 percent completion rate and zero touchdowns.

His pocket presence can be ghastly as times, showing a complete lack of basic quarterbacking fundamentals. But some of the deep passes he threw in college will be enough to intrigue some team in the 2020 NFL Draft to bring him on as a developmental quarterback.

Montez does have some redeeming qualities that could be interesting for the Steelers scouting department. He has been a starter for three seasons now and has been asked to throw far more often than a quarterback of his skill set should. While his accuracy rate can be abysmal at times, he can throw a deep ball with relative ease, something that should intrigue the gunslinging Steelers. And like Patterson, he has been able to successfully implement running into his gameplay, rushing for over 500 yards during his sophomore season.

There is one quarterback prospect in the 2020 NFL Draft who is barely getting any media coverage and could make sense for the Steelers. Cole McDonald from Hawaii is a limited player that could end up being very good in the NFL if he is used properly.

Perhaps Hawaii football gets very little media attention since their game time is usually late-Saturday night for most of the country. But in 2019 McDonald ranked sixth in total offense, according to NCAA.com. McDonald threw just 30 fewer times in 2019 than Joe Burrow (in one less game).

At 6-foot-4, 220-pounds, McDonald has the height the Steelers love. He has the arm strength needed to play in the NFL but found most of his success by utilizing the quick passing game underneath.

McDonald’s biggest issue stems from his decision-making on the field. This kid will throw an interception and then immediately target the same section of the field the next time he is up. Hawaii ran a pro-style offense, so he cannot say he was in a bad scheme or wasn’t being used properly.

In the 2020 NFL Draft, there is no other quarterback with the level of variance per game that McDonald had. Some weeks, he looked incredible. Other weeks, not so much.

In 2018, McDonald led the Mountain West Conference in passing attempts (484), passing yards (3,875) and total yards (4,234), according to Sports-Reference. He has the arm, experience and accuracy in the underneath part of the field to be a serviceable back-up.

The Steelers would have to start from scratch when it comes to his on-field decision making, perhaps even needing to teach him how to read a defense. But McDonald was too good in college to simply be a training camp or scout team quarterback in the NFL.

If he can clean up those deficiencies before Roethlisberger retires, maybe he could have a fighting chance to take over once Big Ben is gone. Stranger things have happened.