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Ryan Clark Shares Surprising Verdict on Shedeur Sanders and the Steelers’ 2025 Draft Board

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Ryan White | Last updated May 17, 2025 11:20 PM ET

Former Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark shared some explosive news on ESPN’s First Take regarding the team he used to play for.

Since Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement following the 2021 NFL season, saying the Steelers have struggled at the position would be an understatement.

Throughout the last three seasons, the Steelers offense has averaged just 18.1 PPG in 2022, 17.9 in 2023, and 21.9 in 2024, ranking 26th, 28th, and 20th.

With those numbers, most would think that if a potential star quarterback slipped in the draft, Mike Tomlin’s group would jump all over it, but that wasn’t the case, according to Clark.

“If he would have fallen to the seventh round, the Steelers were not drafting Shedeur Sanders,” Clark said. Shedeur Sanders was not going to be picked by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

"If he would've fallen to the 7th round, the Steelers weren't drafting Shedeur Sanders."
@Realrclark25 laid out to @stephenasmith and @MollyQerim what he understood from the Steelers' draft board pic.twitter.com/UFJ66mdMKH
— First Take (@FirstTake) May 15, 2025

"Whatever the evaluation was, whatever decision was made, he was not going to be the quarterback picked, drafted, called by Mike Tomlin," Clark continued.

The story of the NFL Draft became all about Shedeur Sanders as he kept falling round by round. The six-time Super Bowl champions passed on Sanders three times, which shocked many people around the league.

“As the 83rd pick was approaching, my mind, my dumb football analyst mindset, thought there was no way that they don’t pick him at 83,” Clark said.

There is no way that this guy, who has a first-round grade from many people, at the lowest a second-round grade based on potential, talent, athleticism, and what he can do at the quarterback position, doesn’t get picked by a team that’s starved to have a quarterback.”

The looming Aaron Rodgers decision could have played a massive role in this entire situation, since there is the chance that he’s already given the Steelers’ front office his word.

Bringing in a former MVP, although he’s 41, might make a team reluctant to draft a polarizing rookie in the same offseason.

“They didn’t want to do anything in this draft that would deter him from picking them… I don’t think Aaron Rodgers wanted to be the second most famous quarterback in the room," Clark said.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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