Steelers QB blames Shedeur Sanders situation for Day 3 fall in NFL Draft

Day 3 of the 2025 NFL Draft was practically quarterback purgatory, as several prospects saw their stock tumble further and further down teams' draft boards, including Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Will Howard , who blamed the situation on another Shedeur Sanders fall. Making an appearance on The Christian Kuntz Podcast, Howard discussed his fall to the sixth round in the 2025 NFL Draft , suggesting he could've been selected on Day 2 if it wasn't for Sanders' slide into the fifth round. “I thought there was a chance that I was going to go Friday,” Howard said.

“I was hearing that. I remember talking with some of the guys at the Steelers , and it was really that whole Shedeur situation, kinda. Him sliding really hurt a lot of the other quarterbacks in our class.

Just because he was ranked a little higher, so nobody wanted to take guys like me, or Riley Leonard, or Kyle McCord, Quinn Ewers. All of us — you think Riley, me, Kyle, Quinn — were six-six, six-seven. We were all like late-late picks.

" Sanders, projected to possibly be selected within the top five picks of the 2025 NFL Draft, fell all the way to the Cleveland Browns with the 144th overall pick in the fifth round. While Howard's claim that no one wanted to take a quarterback during Sanders' fall makes sense, it actually worked out in the Steelers' favor, as the team landed a potential successor to Aaron Rodgers at the price of a late Day 3 draft pick. For up-to-date Steelers coverage, including any offseason moves, follow us on X @TheSteelersWire and give our Facebook page a like.