With Mason Rudolph currently atop the Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback depth chart, and no pick in the second round of this year’s NFL Draft, do the black-and-gold need to go hard after a passer on opening night in Green Bay?

The Steelers are slated to pick 21^st overall on Thursday, but could be hamstrung in any attempt to move up the board to snag their player of choice because there is scant draft currency in the bank in terms of other 2025 picks that could be used as trade compensation. NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah suggests that they need to address the quarterback issue as early as possible, however.

“It’s just going to come down to how comfortable they are,” Jeremiah noted. “Is there some PTSD from going the Kenny Pickett route in this range of the draft and it not working out? I would just say if you have conviction on one of those quarterbacks, if Shedeur Sanders got down there or [there’s] a lot of love in the building for Jaxson Dart, if you have conviction, take the quarterback. If it’s at all close, you have a screaming need there long-term. So, if you have similar grades [on other players], the tie would go to the quarterback — if you have some conviction.

“That decision by Pittsburgh has got to come down to ‘like or love’. If you like the quarterbacks, don’t do it there. If you love them, you have to do it there.”

There are obvious alternative needs that the Steelers could address, with the defensive line of particular concern.

“I do think, when you look at those defensive tackles, they’ve been in that division,” Jeremiah added. “Mike Tomlin has had a Casey Hampton, a big, powerful guy… Obviously, Cam Heyward is a big, powerful, athletic guy. You look at Haloti Ngata, who Tomlin saw for years and years. It’s hard to find guys like that.

“Kenneth Grant, to me, kind of matches that division and could make some good sense for them there. I like [Derrick] Harmon — he’s a good player as well. That’s going to come down to their evaluation of those guys.”

Lacking that second round pick should not necessarily hamper Pittsburgh addressing its needs, however, with Jeremiah pointing out that the class of 2025 is deep in areas they need to bolster.

“Obviously there is a scenario where, if they were worried about, say, New Orleans being an option [to take a QB], they’re going to have to part with some heavy artillery in next year’s draft because you don’t have a two this year,” he explained. “I think it limits their ability to move up, as it would be very costly for them to move up with next year’s draft [capital]. To me, if they aren’t in love with a quarterback, I could see them being a team that’s more ready and willing to move back to try and get more [picks] in that range. Some of these needs that they have could be filled in that top of the second-round range and then get some extra picks as well.

“If you are going to stick and pick in the first, then you’re going to come around and pick in the third where, to me, I would love to see them get a running back. If that was part of their calculus — a defensive tackle and a running back — I actually think they’re pretty covered either way. I think there’s going to be guys at both positions in the third round. They happen to be two of the deeper positions in the draft. You can get a Dylan Sampson in the third round as a running back, or [Bhayshul] Tuten from Virginia Tech. Defensive tackle-wise, there’s going to be guys in that position as well in round number three, so I don’t think it impacts them. They can just take the highest-rated player [in round one], and still have options in the third round that can come in and help them.”