Mike Tomlin doesn’t do panic moves. The man has been coaching the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2007, never finishing a season below .500, and keeping the franchise on a steady, if sometimes unspectacular, path. But right now? Right now, the QB1 room looks more like a clearance rack than a championship display. Justin Fields took his $40 million and bolted for the New York Jets. Aaron Rodgers—who spent last season recovering from an Achilles tear and hosting his own personal ‘will he, won’t he’ reality show—has been floated as an option. And yet, the Steelers are still left staring into the abyss when it comes to a long-term answer under center. The future isn’t in Rodgers’ 40-year-old arm or Russell Wilson’s fading mobility.

Enter a quarterback prospect who isn’t just turning heads—he’s breaking stopwatches. Deemed a Lamar-like dual threat (not for his passing, but for his ferocious athleticism), Alabama’s latest dual-threat weapon, who put up 2,844 yards and 16 TDs last season, was a pre-draft wild card. However, after clocking an unofficial 4.37 at his Pro Day, the buzz surrounding him has reached ear-splitting levels. And it’s Jalen Milroe who’s making all the noise. So Milroe → Steelers?

Fox Sports’ RJ Young didn’t mince words when discussing the Steelers’ potential future at the quarterback position. Winning, of course, has been the standard in the Steel City. But winning with the right guy under center? That’s been the challenge. “Mike Tomlin has made that very clear.”

Tomlin and Co. haven’t won a Super Bowl in over a decade and have struggled to find a successor for Ben Roethlisberger, cycling through names like Mason Rudolph and Kenny Pickett. They have to find a solution at QB, and the sense is they will go heavy on drafting a quarterback, as Rodgers clearly might be seen as a temporary, one-year bridge. “I think the guy they actually should be looking at isn’t Shedeur or Aaron Rodgers, probably Jalen Milroe. I think they should go Jalen Milroe, who threw down a 4.37—just so everybody understands, he is one of the fastest men available in this NFL draft and he plays quarterback.”

Jalen Milroe may not be as refined as in throwing the football in comparison to Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders, but he has every bit of arm strength as the QBs slotted above him, if not more arm strength than most of those passers. His speed alone makes him a nightmare for defenses, but as Young pointed out, it’s not just about speed—it’s about a mindset. “This is a man that was committed to Texas… then he got ran off… ends up at Alabama, leads them to an SEC Championship and a College Football Playoff appearance.”

The comparisons to Lamar Jackson are inevitable, though not entirely fair. This quarterback isn’t quite the same caliber of a passer, but Young sees shades of another elite signal-caller in his game. “The guy that I think he most resembles is Jalen Hurts,” Young said. “Hurts had a problem putting the ba-l on the floor at Oklahoma, got benched in a national championship game, and still led the Philadelphia Eagles to the Super Bowl.” The point? Jalen Milroe has faced adversity, gotten knocked down, and come back swinging.

He’s not perfect—there are concerns about his ability to operate consistently within the pocket—but in today’s NFL, where mobility is king, his skill set is tailor-made for the modern game. Young continued, “I don’t know why you don’t go get a guy who has spent his career proving people wrong.” That’s exactly the kind of fire Pittsburgh needs.

More than anything, Pittsburgh needs an identity on offense. The team has been stuck in a stylistic no-man’s land, neither fully committing to a power run game nor opening up the offense to modern spread concepts. This quarterback changes that. He’s not just a runner; he has a howitzer of an arm and the ability to extend plays, forcing defenses to respect both his deep throws and his ability to break off chunk gains with his legs.

The Steelers haven’t had a true dual-threat quarterback since, well… ever. Not in the modern sense. Big Ben could move early in his career, but he was never the kind of athlete who could tilt the field with his legs. This player? He’s different. If he lands in Pittsburgh, the Steelers can finally lean into a new offensive philosophy rather than trying to patchwork an aging roster around a quarterback past his prime.

The Steelers’ brass isn’t ignoring the potential, either. Milroe also reportedly met with general manager Omar Khan and coach Tomlin after his workout. That’s not nothing. When Tomlin shows up in person, it means there’s real interest. But Tomlin is also known for having little patience with undisciplined play, which could be a sticking point. Can JM develop as a passer quickly enough? Can he learn to stay within structure rather than relying on his legs as an escape plan?

The Steelers have a choice to make. They can chase the ghost of past glories, rolling with a veteran like Rodgers or Wilson and hoping there’s still magic left in the tank. Or they can embrace something new, something raw, something dynamic.

Dinner date with a twist: Jalen Milroe’s meeting with the Steelers raises eyebrows

When Pittsburgh Steelers brass—head coach Mike Tomlin and GM Omar Khan—took Jalen Milroe out to dinner in Alabama, it wasn’t just a casual meal. It was a signal, and NFL insider Jeremy Fowler took notice.

“They were in Alabama with Jalen Milroe and had dinner with him. I wouldn’t understate that because Pittsburgh actually has a penchant for looking into and drafting guys they have dinner with,” Fowler shared on The Rich Eisen Show. “It’s sort of a tell for them sometimes.” That’s not just speculation—history backs it up.

T.J. Watt, Artie Burns, and several other first-round picks all had pre-draft dinners with the Steelers before hearing their names called on draft night. Fowler also pointed out that Pittsburgh is doing its due diligence at quarterback. “I think regardless, the Steelers are going to look into their draft options and take a hard evaluation at the quarterbacks,” he explained. “If not this year, then next year.” With no 2-round pick (thanks to the DK Metcalf trade) and uncertainty at QB, the Steelers could be playing the long game at the position. Whether Milroe is the next dinner-to-draft success story remains.