With all of this talk about Joe Burrow and the NCAA National Championship game, people seemed to have forgotten the other future great QB playing for the Clemson Tigers.
Believe me when I say I’m very happy for Joe Burrow. He had the best single-season I’ve ever seen in college football history. As every day now passes, I’m counting down the days until the Cincinnati Bengals probably draft this stud. It’s because of this that I have been driven to share this madness.
If there are football gods, starting today I am on my hands and knees praying for the Steelers to draft Trevor Lawrence come 2021 draft day. I’m taking a page from the Lavar Ball handbook here and speaking this into existence.
The Steelers have to find a way to get this kid come draft day 2021. Believe me when I say I know this is crazy as hell. It would take a lot for this to happen but IM SPEAKING IT INTO EXISTENCE. He’s the kid everyone is talking about now in terms of a future NFL superstar QB now that Joe Burrow is essentially a Cincinnati Bengal. So what will it take?
A miracle essentially if we’re being honest with ourselves. However I do have a plan and it’s pure insanity, but shooters shoot.
Something like this can only happen in two ways. The long ride that I’m taking you on right now is the “Trade Ben Roethlisberger” train. This is something the Steelers would have to sign off on. They wouldn’t sign off on it if they didn’t have the foresight to get Lawrence in 2021. Trading a 2-time super bowl winning QB isn’t going to be an easy sell. It would be only insignificantly realistic-ish if he wasn’t coming off of a torn ligament in the elbow.
For the sake of the take, let’s say he came back 100% healthy and the franchise made it known he would be included for trade talks. The question then becomes “who is willing to pay the price?”
I actually believe this is the easiest call and that team is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Bruce Arians is their coach so check that box. They have a team who is ready to win now due to their weaponry and much-improved defense. With an obvious upgrade at QB in Big Ben over Jameis Winston, why wouldn’t they be an NFC contender next year? The best part is the price tag for an aging HOF QB: a 2020 3rd rounder and a 2021 first-rounder for Big Ben. It doesn’t hurt them now and gives us the ammo for the 2021 draft.
Now that we have the ammo, let’s use it to get to the number 1 pick as trading for it is the easiest way in this scenario to get Lawrence. I think this is a good time to reiterate that this is completely and damn near next to impossible for the Steelers.
Tanking is essentially out of the question. Their defense is too dominant for that to happen, but I don’t think it’s out of the realm to get top 10 if Mason Rudolph led this team in 2020. I’ve seen enough to confidently make that determination about him. Realistically he can get better, but I just don’t think he has that it-factor all franchise QBs have.
You throw the host of picks at the number 1 overall team in the hopes that they do not need a QB. There’s actually about 15-20 teams I think are more than ok at the QB position due to them already having one, or teams still determining if their guy has what it takes. People reading this might counter with Kyler Murray where I believe that was a truly unique situation. In fact, Arizona would be the perfect team to get that number 1 pick for this scenario!
Trade the Cardinals for their number 1 pick, Cards move back to top 10 and draft a defensive player probably, get 2021 1st, 2021 Tampa first (pick 32 because let’s get Ben that 3rd ring baby), 2021 2nd, 2022 1st, and 2022 4th for Trevor Lawrence.
So to recap, option 1 is allllll of this craziness or option 2 is to flat out tank. Again the Steelers defense is too good to pull off a successful tank. This team would need to be decimated with an injury. The Miami Dolphins just tried to tank and won 5 games, so the NFL sort of doesn’t allow tanking due to parity. I’ll probably be drug tested by everyone for releasing these thoughts anyways.
Editors Note:
thoughtsfromthebench.com 