Pittsburgh Steelers QB blames Shedeur Sanders for fall – ‘nobody wanted guys like me’
The 2025 NFL Draft delivered loads of surprises, however one story-line overshadowed the whole occasion.
Entering proceedings, many anticipated now Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders to be a primary-spherical choose.
In truth, some even labeled the son of Hall-of-Famer Deion Sanders as the No.1 pickearlier than that finally went to Tennessee Titans hurler Cam Ward.
Sanders didn’t come off the board till the Browns traded as much as choose him at No. 144 within the fifth spherical, and his reaction said it all.
It was some of the dramatic draft slides in latest draft reminiscence, and the impact of it was felt across the league.
According to Pittsburgh Steelers QB Will Howard, who recently spoke on The Christian Kuntz Podcastwhat occurred to Sanders led to a freeze on that 12 months’s quarterback market and is among the causes his title wasn’t known as earlier.
“I thought there was a chance that I was going to go on Friday,” Howard mentioned.
“I was hearing that. I remember talking with some guys from the Steelers, and it was really that whole Shedeur situation that his sliding really hurt a lot of the other quarterbacks in our class.
“Just because he was ranked a little bit higher, so nobody wanted to take guys like me, or Riley Leonard, or Kyle McCord, or Quinn Ewers.
“We were all like, late, late picks.”
Five quarterbacks, including Ward and Browns backup Dillon Gabirel, were selected in the first two days of the draft, but after that, he stalled.
Once Sanders came off the board, the logjam broke. Howard, Leonard and Kyle McCord were all selected within the same 10 picks in the sixth round.
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Sanders would end up starting seven games for Cleveland in his rookie season, going 3-4 and passing for 1,400 yards.
He is now looking to hold his position as the starting QB for the Browns, with a returning Deshaun Watson set to be his major competition.
As for Howard, pick No. 185 in the 2025 draft, who had led the Big Ten in completion percentage, passing yards, and touchdown passes during his final season in Ohio, he now finds himself in a quarterback battle with the Steelers.
Pittsburgh continue to wait on Aaron Rodgers’ decisionwhile Drew Allar, who they drafted in 2026, is also in the team’s QB room.
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Both Rodgers (if he returns) and Allar, are considered locks to make the Steelers 2026 roster, leaving Howard and other QB Mason Rudolph battling it out for the other remaining spot.
However, if one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time doesn’t return, it is expected that Howard will take the starting job under new head coach Mike McCarthy.
If granted the starting role, Howard will be hoping to regain some of his national championship-winning form, and help the Steelers break their playoff ‘curse’.
As for Shedeur, he’s set to compete for the Browns QB1 spot heading into the 2026 NFL season.
Deshaun Watson es believed to be in pole positionwith sophomores Shedeur and Dillon Gabriel both fighting the controversial veteran for a shot.
However, another man will also be in the mix in the type of Taylen Greenwho Cleveland scooped within the sixth spherical of final month’s NFL draft.
Standing at 6ft 6ins, he ran a blistering 4.36 yard 40 at the Scouting Combine, and compares himself to Baltimore Ravens twin menace star, Lamar Jackson.
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