The Pittsburgh Steelers have been running errands trying to find a quarterback ever since Ben Roethlisberger retired in 2021. While the Steelers retained veteran Aaron Rodgers for another season, his final season has put a lot of pressure on the team to find his replacement after this season. Now, the Steelers may have found what they were looking for after all.
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“The Steelers sent three scouts, including assistant general manager Andy Weidl, to Morgantown to see Oklahoma State QB Drew Mestemaker face West Virginia,” reported Alan Saunders.
Mestemaker led Oklahoma State to a 41-24 victory over West Virginia. The BIG 12 opener saw Mestemaker throw a season-high 389 yards, including three touchdowns.
While the Steelers will be glad to see Mestemaker’s performance, this isn’t their first time keeping an eye on the young prodigy, as they previously scouted him in a Week 1 loss of Oklahoma State to Tulsa Golden Hurricane. Mestemaker has turned from a zero-star recruit to a projected first-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft. But what brings him into play is his journey, starting as a fifth-choice quarterback at North Texas in 2024 and leading the FBS with 4,379 yards last season.
The Steelers are in a rush to find a quarterback with the potential to develop under Mike McCarthy, who has experience in developing quarterbacks at different stages of their careers, like Brett Favre and Rodgers.
The biggest example is Rodgers himself, who became a four-time MVP under McCarthy when the two were together at the Green Bay Packers, winning Super Bowl XLV.
But playing his 22nd season, Rodgers is likely retiring at the end of the season, with the Steelers looking to evaluate other options at the position, with the two being youngsters Drew Allar and Will Howard.
Allar is a third-round quarterback and needs to be polished further, but has the physical skill set to endure the league’s pressure. Whereas Howard is another player needing development, and with Mestemaker being actively scouted, these two would need to take full advantage of their time being trained alongside veteran Aaron Rodgers.
But finding a new quarterback hasn’t been the only problem the Steelers are having right now, as they also have a long season ahead of them before they can focus on 2027.
Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers are struggling
Week 2 was nothing but an eye-opener for the Steelers: Their offense has been weak, and questions about Rodgers’ age and arm strength can’t be ignored anymore. Rodgers was sacked four times by the New England Patriots, losing 43 yards. The offensive line didn’t give Rodgers the clean pockets he needs at this stage of his career. Even McCarthy admitted that Rodgers needs “better platforms to throw off of.”
While many expected McCarthy and Rodgers to click immediately, that hasn’t happened. McCarthy admitted “it’s been a minute” since they worked together, and Rodgers has played under different coaches with different schemes.
But the problem doesn’t end with Rodgers, as this is the Steelers’ worst start of the century in expected points added per pass play. Mike Sando of The Athletic noted the Steelers rank 30th in EPA per play and 30th in success rate through two games. Rodgers has hinted at the lack of communication as one of the reasons behind the team’s struggles.
“The best teams are player-led teams,” Rodgers said. “So we’ve got to keep taking ownership. In a game like today, where there wasn’t a lot of flow to it, we need to be better, and that starts with me making sure Mike (McCarthy) knows what’s working, what’s not working, and our coaches know, so we can call stuff that we feel like has a better chance.”
McCarthy himself doubled down on Rodgers’ comments of a team being player-led, and almost blamed himself for the loss.
“But at the end of the day, it’s about playing to his reps and to his experiences, because that’s frankly something I’ve always done as far as how you build an offensive system,” said McCarthy.
The quarterback problem has been an issue for a long time, and it seems like the current performance of the Steelers’ offense is only making it look worse. Amid this chaos, the Steelers are looking at prodigies like Mestemaker to finally address what fans hate to see: the NFL’s most important position being compromised.
