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As of March 20th, the Pittsburgh Steelers depth chart at quarterback is far from certain. After Ben Roethlisberger, the only quarterback under contract with the team is Landry Jones, who is entering the final year of his rookie deal.
Jones performed well in 2015 when coming off the bench, but his overall performance left a lot to be desired. It was Jones who orchestrated an amazing comeback against the Arizona Cardinals at Heinz Field, but failed to win as a starter in Kansas City against the Chiefs, and threw a heartbreaking interception in relief of Roethlisberger against the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Wild Card round.
The Steelers could still re-sign Bruce Gradkowski or Mike Vick, but the team seems very interested in filling their void on the depth chart through the NFL Draft. Most recently, the team met with QB Brandon Allen at Arkansas' Pro Day.
Allen is a three-year starter with the Razorbacks, but due to some tangible size issues, has most pro scouts weary of him at the professional level. First, his physical size (6-feet, one-inch) is considered to be too small to play at the NFL level. Second, his hand size (8 1/2 inches) is also considered to be a half-inch below what most scouts prefer from quarterbacks coming out of college.
Allen is banking on a massive improvement from his Junior to Senior season to help turn him from an undrafted free agent signing, to a drafted player. Most project Allen to be a late-round selection in the upcoming NFL Draft, and that would be the exact time the Pittsburgh Steelers will be looking to address the quarterback position, if they do at all in the 7-round selection process.
With many glaring needs on the defensive side of the football, most would argue the team shouldn't even be thinking about a quarterback in the draft, but merely sign a quarterback as an undrafted free agent. While this certainly would be beneficial to the defense, some would also argue re-signing Bruce Gradkoswki would be the team's best option in terms of solidifying the depth chart heading into 2016.
Regardless of which side of the fence you find yourself on leading up to the draft, the Steelers are certainly doing their homework on quarterback prospects, Allen being the latest to catch their attention.