{"id":192030,"date":"2026-05-14T07:29:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T07:29:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/192030\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T07:29:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T07:29:18","slug":"pittsburgh-steelers-qb-blames-shedeur-sanders-for-fall-nobody-wanted-guys-like-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/192030\/","title":{"rendered":"Pittsburgh Steelers QB blames Shedeur Sanders for fall – ‘nobody wanted guys like me’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2025 NFL Draft delivered plenty of surprises, but one story-line overshadowed the entire event.<\/p>\n

Entering proceedings, many expected now Cleveland Browns<\/a> quarterback Shedeur Sanders<\/a> to be a first-round pick.<\/p>\n

\"Shedeur<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

Entering the 2025 draft, Shedeur Sanders was expected to be the second quarterback drafted behind Cam WardCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

In fact, some even labeled the son of Hall-of-Famer Deion Sanders as the No.1 pick<\/a>, before that eventually went to Tennessee Titans<\/a> hurler Cam Ward<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sanders did not come off the board until the Browns traded up to select him at No. 144 in the fifth round, and his reaction said it all.<\/a><\/p>\n

It was one of the most dramatic draft slides in recent draft memory, and the effect of it was felt around the league.<\/p>\n

According to Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> QB Will Howard, who recently spoke on The Christian Kuntz Podcast<\/a>, what happened to Sanders lead to a freeze on that year’s quarterback market and is one of the reasons his name wasn\u2019t called earlier.<\/p>\n

READ MORE ON THE NFL<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought there was a chance that I was going to go on Friday,\u201d Howard said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were all like, late, late picks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Five quarterbacks, including Ward and Browns backup Dillon Gabirel, were selected in the first two days of the draft, but after that, it stalled.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

Howard pointed to Sanders\u2019 draft slide as the reason he, and a plethora of other quarterbacks, were drafted so lateCredit: Getty\"Will<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

Once Sanders was drafted, three quarterbacks were taken within 10 picks in the sixth roundCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

Sanders would end up starting seven games for Cleveland in his rookie season, going 3-4 and passing for 1,400 yards.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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 find himself in a quarterback battle with the Steelers.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh continue to wait on Aaron Rodgers’ decision<\/a>, while Drew Allar, who they drafted in 2026, is also in the team’s QB room.<\/p>\n

\"Will<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

Howard is expected to battle for the Steelers starting role if Aaron Rodgers opts not to returnCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

However, if one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time<\/a> doesn\u2019t return, it is expected that Howard will take the starting job under new head coach Mike McCarthy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Read More on talkSPORT<\/p>\n

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 \u2018curse\u2019.<\/p>\n

Stay up to date with the NFL across all our talkSPORT platforms – subscribe to our YouTube channel for the latest news, opinion, exclusive interviews and our daily unfiltered, unscripted show ‘The S* Word, from 8am ET<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2025 NFL Draft delivered plenty of surprises, but one story-line overshadowed the entire event. Entering proceedings, many…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":192031,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[4977,85494,85496,85495,85497,4914,85490,85492,85491,85493,1418,22141,69676,85481,85483,85482,85484,19981,85479,85480,73,75,74,85485,1833,4853,7107,85486,4921,85502,85498,85499,85501,85500,1829,22891,85488,85487,85489,39813,85506,85504,85503,85505,85507],"class_list":["post-192030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-browns","tag-browns-news","tag-browns-rumors","tag-browns-rumours","tag-browns-updates","tag-cleveland-browns","tag-cleveland-browns-news","tag-cleveland-browns-rumors","tag-cleveland-browns-rumours","tag-cleveland-browns-updates","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-news","tag-nfl-offseason","tag-nfl-offseason-news","tag-nfl-offseason-rumors","tag-nfl-offseason-rumours","tag-nfl-offseason-updates","tag-nfl-rumors","tag-nfl-rumours","tag-nfl-updates","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-pittsburgh-steeelrs-rumours","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-pittsburgh-steelers-news","tag-pittsburgh-steelers-rumors","tag-pittsburgh-steelers-updates","tag-shedeur-sanders","tag-shedeur-sanders-cleveland-browns","tag-shedeur-sanders-colorado","tag-shedeur-sanders-deion-sanders","tag-shedeur-sanders-draft-reaction","tag-shedeur-sanders-nfl-draft","tag-steelers","tag-steelers-news","tag-steelers-rumors","tag-steelers-rumours","tag-steelers-updates","tag-will-howard","tag-will-howard-blames-shedeur-sanders","tag-will-howard-nfl-draft","tag-will-howard-ohio-state","tag-will-howard-shedeur-sanders","tag-will-howard-steelers-quarterback"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/192031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}