Since 2023, Jarrett Bailey has served as the deputy editor for Behind The Steel Curtain. He is also an NFL contributor for The Sporting News and hosts The Pump Fake Podcast. He resides in Pittsburgh and has been a Steelers fan for life.
There was some commotion early Friday morning when Mike DeFabo of The Athletic reported that the Pittsburgh Steelers would be welcoming Jaxon Dart for a pre-draft visit in April. This news, occurring on the same day as the Ole Miss pro day, led to speculation that the Rebels quarterback might be the unexpected choice for Pittsburgh at No. 21 in the first round. Nonetheless, the Steelers communicated to us through their actions on Friday that Dart will not be the selection.
As noted by Derrick Bell from Steelers Now, both head coach Mike Tomlin and general manager Omar Khan were absent from Ole Miss’ pro day, with only assistant GM Andy Weidl representing the Steelers’ upper management. If the two decision-makers for Pittsburgh can’t be bothered to attend and observe Dart’s throwing, they won’t select him.
As noted by Bell in his post’s comments, although Tomlin and Khan missed Washington’s pro day last year and chose Troy Fautanu, there is a significant distinction between a tackle and the face of your franchise. Additionally, you won’t gain much insight into a tackle’s on-field skills during a pro day.
Conversely, they were present at Alabama’s pro day and had a close-up view of Jalen Milroe. It’s much more probable that the Steelers will select Milroe in the third round and focus on filling their defensive line needs or possibly invest further in wide receiver in the first round rather than choosing a quarterback whose pro day they were uninterested enough to attend.
To link this to the theory I’ve been discussing all day, the Steelers’ strategy appears to involve moving up in the 2026 draft to secure their future starting quarterback. If they select Milroe in this year’s draft, they will have two young players on the roster who can challenge each other, along with a possible alternative in Milroe if the 2026 player doesn’t succeed.