The Pittsburgh Steelers have spent half a decade chasing the safest possible quarterback. The two PFSN analysts breaking down their future agree the fix is the opposite instinct: pick a lane, trade up, and bet on a ceiling.

On the PFSN Football Debate Club, host Cam Mellor asked Nick Farabaugh and Jacob Infante a question Pittsburgh will have to answer the moment Aaron Rodgers walks away: who should start at quarterback in 2027? Both landed on a first-round rookie. They just framed the urgency differently.

Why the Steelers Should Trade Up for a 2027 Quarterback

Infante didn’t want Pittsburgh waiting for a prospect to fall to them. “I think it should be a first round rookie,” he said. “Sure, the Steelers aren’t going to be bad enough this year to pick in the top five and get the cream of the crop in this year’s quarterback draft class, but I think they should trade up for one.”

His larger point was about a pattern. Pittsburgh keeps reaching for floor at the position and keeps ending up in the same place. “That’s part of the reason that they’re so stagnant is they’re shooting for floor at quarterback. There’s no upside with the guys they’re bringing in,” Infante said. “Even Kenny Pickett was a high-floor guy without that elite level of tools.”

The current depth chart underlines the problem. Behind Rodgers sit Mason Rudolph, 2025 sixth-round pick Will Howard, and third-round rookie Drew Allar, drafted out of Penn State in 2026 as a developmental project for McCarthy. Rodgers has said 2026 will be his last season, Rudolph’s contract expires after the year, and none of the young arms has meaningful NFL snaps. That leaves 2027 genuinely open.

Farabaugh agreed on the destination and sharpened the criteria. “There’s no question. A premium first round quarterback, but really a quarterback that is a ceiling chaser,” he said. “We talk about high floor. The Steelers have been stagnant. They’ve been 10 and seven, nine and eight, right on the precipice, but get blown out against real teams.”

The Core Is Ready for a Rookie to Inherit It

Farabaugh’s argument rests on timing. The pieces a young quarterback needs are already in the building, which is precisely why he wants the swing taken sooner rather than later. “At some point, you have to take an eye towards the future,” he said. “The Steelers have a core that they’re working with.”

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He pointed to an offensive line he believes is coming together and a roster that no longer demands the position carry the whole operation. With McCarthy, a coach with a long track record of developing passers, already in place, Farabaugh’s verdict was blunt. “It’s time to drop this quarterback in and let’s find out if he can really sink or swim.”

That confidence in the supporting cast is the quiet engine of the whole debate. Neither analyst is asking a rookie to save a barren roster. They’re asking the front office to stop hedging on the one spot that has defined Pittsburgh’s ceiling since Ben Roethlisberger’s prime.

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Mellor handed the debate to Infante, specifically for the trade-up wrinkle, noting the Steelers project to land just above or below .500 and won’t be picking high enough to sit and wait. The conclusion both analysts reached is the uncomfortable one for a franchise allergic to losing seasons: the only way Pittsburgh climbs is to risk a step back first, package picks, move up the board, and finally chase a quarterback with a ceiling instead of a floor.