Love him or loathe him, the finish line on Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders' NFL draft discourse is in sight.
Tonight in Green Bay, Wisconsin, most analysts and talking heads expect the high-profile signal-caller to hear his name called in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Where he lands is still very much a matter of debate.
Currently, the Pittsburgh Steelers are trending toward drafting Sanders, given that he is still on the board by the No. 21 overall pick. Pittsburgh is the betting favorite to land him, with -150 odds on both DraftKings Sportsbook and ESPN Bet as of this morning.
Sanders anxiously awaits his NFL destination after a long cycle of ups and downs on his draft stock. The quarterback is widely projected to slide after some original evaluations had him selected as high as the No. 1 overall pick.
With former Miami Hurricanes quarterback Cam Ward all but locked into being selected first by the Tennessee Titans, other teams with needs under center have thrown their name in the hat for Sanders.
The Cleveland Browns (No. 2 overall), New York Giants (No. 3), Las Vegas Raiders (No. 6) and New Orleans Saints (No.9) are all teams in the top 10 previously linked to the quarterback, but a dip in popular opinion could lead to Sanders falling right into Pittsburgh's lap.
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ESPN NFL analyst and retired pro quarterback Dan Orlovsky offered his two cents on what the Steelers should do with the No. 21 pick, given their on-again, off-again ties to future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
"There [are] only two reasons why the Steelers would not take a quarterback at No. 21 tonight," Orlovsky said on ESPN's Get Up. "They either know that Rodgers or Kirk Cousins is going to be their quarterback. . . Or, they're looking ahead to next year. And I know that might sound ridiculous to Steelers fans. . . But next year's quarterback class coming out of college football is going to be like last year's. You're going to talk about six guys that have the potential of going in the first round."
His broadcast partner and former NFL general manager, Mike Tannenbaum, followed up with an insight on how Pittsburgh may look at this draft as an opportunity to quell its worries under center.
"If we were running the Steelers, and we're in a win-now mode, and our offseason already began, we can't count on Aaron Rodgers," Tannenbaum said. "We control getting a quarterback, so to me, when you go out and give $30 million a year for [wide receiver] DK Metcalf and a second-round pick, you have to get a quarterback, and I would expect the Steelers to do that in a few hours."
FOX Sports' Emmanuel Acho also provided reasoning on how the Steelers could alter the currently stagnant trajectory of their franchise by drafting Sanders on a Wednesday episode of The Facility.
"Shedeur just has 'It,'" Acho said. "He doesn't have the strongest arm, he doesn't have the quickest legs, but for whatever reason, there's just something about him that turns franchises around."
It's the final countdown on where Sanders will begin his long-awaited NFL journey, and Pittsburgh is a situation where he'd have both support and growth. A slide could be the best-case scenario for him in the long run, as his aspirations for a legendary career could live or die with being drafted by a legendary franchise.
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