As the Steelers' work on this year’s quarterback draft class continues, the team is turning its attention to Cincinnati's Desmond Ridder. Pittsburgh is hosting him for one of its top-30 visits Thursday, notes by Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer (Twitter link).
This marks the beginning of a busy stretch for Ridder; he is scheduled to meet with the Panthers and Seahawks next week, as first reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter). Pittsburgh has long been touted as one of the teams most in need of a new franchise signal-caller, despite the signing of Mitch Trubisky. The team had a large presence at Ridder’s (and every other top QB’s) pro day.
The redshirt senior took Cincinnati to unprecedented heights during his time there. He helped the Bearcats become the first Group of 5 school to appear in the College Football Playoff, ultimately losing in the national semifinal. His career record of 44-6 ranks first in program history and places him among the winningest college QBs of all time. He threw 87 touchdowns in four seasons, completing 62.1% of his passes.
Ridder has generally been ranked at least one tier below Malik Willis and Kenny Pickett in the buildup to this month’s draft. His stock may be on the rise, however, as ESPN’s Matt Miller tweets that Ridder has a chance to be a top-20 pick. Depending on how the rest of the board falls, that could place him directly into Pittsburgh’s range, since the Steelers hold the 20th selection.
Ridder isn’t the only QB Pittsburgh is meting with, not surprisingly. Rapoport adds (on Twitter) that UNC’s Sam Howell will visit on Friday. The latter is seen as a similarly ranked prospect and seems to have drawn attention from the Commanders and Saints, among other teams. Whether the Steelers end up selecting either option or not, they will clearly have done their due diligence on the position.
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