This summer, the quarterbacks the Steelers are the most concerned with are Aaron Rodgers, Drew Allar, Will Howard, and Mason Rudolph.
But if you’re a fan who enjoys summer scouting the college ranks, there are probably a few more passers worth keeping an eye on.
Besides the household names such as Arch Manning and Dante Moore, there’s a crowd of quarterbacks in the first-round conversation entering the 2026-27 college football season. And in a new three-round 2027 NFL mock draft, Pro Football Network’s
Ian Cummings has the Steelers selecting Minnesota passer Drake Lindsey 14th overall.
You can read what he wrote below:
Drake Lindsey is a wild-card passer who could ascend as an early-round candidate in the 2027 NFL Draft cycle. At his best, and this is contingent on development in 2026, he could invite stylistic parallels to Big Ben from Steelers nation.
In 2025, while leading his team to a 8-5 record and a bowl victory as a redshirt freshman, he turned in a respectable PFN QB Impact Score of 77.8, and his 0.5 EPA per dropback in close-game scenarios was 15th among passers with at least 10 starts, according to TruMedia.
At 6-foot-5, 230 pounds, Lindsey perfectly fits the profile of the old-school, big-armed pocket passer. He’s big and high-mass, with quantifiably elite arm strength, velocity generation, and angle freedom, and those domineering traits aren’t just for show.
On top of having elite size and arm strength, Lindsey also shows off impressive pre-snap command, post-snap vision, opportunity identification skills, and layering ability for such a young QB. With another year of growth and accuracy improvement, Round 1 is possible.
Cummings had the Steelers making Lindsey as the fourth quarterback in the draft, behind Manning, Moore, and Notre Dame’s CJ Carr.
As a redshirt freshman in 2025, Lindsey passed for 2,382 yards along with 18 touchdowns and six interceptions. He added four more touchdowns on the ground, but because sacks count against rushing yards in college, he finished with a grand total of -119 yards as a runner. He is more of a pocket passer, with a career-long rush of just six yards.
The 20-year-old Lindsey was arrested in May for alleged underaged possession of a fake ID and alcohol.
Later in the mock draft, Cummings has the Steelers selecting Miami guard Samson Okunlola in the second round and Notre Dame linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa in the third.
Drafting another early-round offensive lineman would be a surprise for the Steelers, who have heavily invested in the position in their last several drafts. However, linebacker is absolutely a position to monitor ahead of the 2027 offseason with both Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson’s long term Steelers status in question.
Viliamu-Asa recorded 48 total tackles, three sacks, one interception, and one pass defensed as a true sophomore in 2025. He missed the last game of the season with a torn ACL, which will limit him ahead of the 2026 season.
However, Viliamu-Asa was still named to the 2026 Lott Impact Trophy watch list, an award for the most impactful defender in college football, on and off the field.
