Mel Kiper Jr. explains why Pittsburgh Steelers drafting Bo Nix does not make sense

When Mike Tomlin held his end-of-season press conference, he said the Pittsburgh Steelers were going to bring in competition for quarterback Kenny Pickett. His third season in the NFL will be an important one, and with after the franchise released Mitchell Trubisky this week, the question is now who will battle against Pickett for the starting job.

ESPN’s Field Yates projected the Steelers to select Bo Nix out of Oregon with the No. 20 overall pick in his first mock draft this week. It would mark the second time in three years Pittsburgh takes a quarterback at that selection after picking Pickett in 2022.

To Mel Kiper Jr., it might not make sense for the Steelers to go with another rookie quarterback for a few different reasons since Pickett has shown “some promise” over two years. Instead, he argued they should trade for Justin Fields.

“The issue with Pittsburgh is the division,” Kiper said on First Draft. “Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Deshaun Watson. Then, you throw in the AFC and all the great ones there, which we’ve talked about a thousand times. But the division, I’m big on that. Because if you’re fourth – and they’re fourth by a mile, by miles. They can’t see the quarterbacks in that division they’re so far looking away. You’ve got to get better than the quarterback you had, who’s okay.

“But in this division, you can’t have a single. A single’s not winning games for you. You’ve got to have a triple, home run, grand slam. You’ve got to do something big here. You swing for the fences, right? That, to me, is Justin Fields. … But to Pittsburgh, if you take Bo Nix – who’s shown the last two years at Oregon, he’s got the skillset necessary to be a decent starting quarterback in the NFL, maybe decent to good. That’s not what Pittsburgh needs. They have that in Kenny Pickett. So they have a Bo Nix in Kenny Pickett.”

Because the Chicago Bears have the No. 1 overall pick – again – rumors are swirling about a possible Fields trade. The Steelers have come up as a possible suitor, and ESPN’s Adam Schefter recently said Tomlin is a “big fan” of Fields.

Kiper argued if the Bears are torn between Fields and Caleb Williams, they should take the latter. That would open Fields up for a trade, and Pittsburgh could capitalize.

” I really believe Justin Fields [and] Caleb Williams, outside of the fact it’s a push, you take Caleb,” Kiper said. “I think it’s a push. I’d take Caleb because you reset the clock. And you’re not sure about Caleb, but you’re not sure about Justin either, you take Caleb thinking, ‘Hey, he has shown the capability to be special.’ And I reset the clock. So if I can’t figure it out, I’m resetting the clock and taking Caleb.”