Jets, Steelers, Browns to battle for NFL Draft QB pick at spots 16, 21 and 24
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Jets, Steelers, Browns to battle for NFL Draft QB pick at spots 16, 21 and 24 originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The NFL Draft is about a lot more than quarterbacks.
But for the teams that need a QB, that often ends up feeling like the only thing that matters. This year, the likes of the New York Jets, Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns all fall at least partially into that category.
The Jets have Geno Smith set to start in 2026 but know they still need a long-term answer.
The Steelers hope to have Aaron Rodgers back for 2026, but that's yet to be determined -- and either way, they still need a long-term answer, too.
The Browns? Well, the Browns always need a quarterback -- and Shedeur Sanders plus Dillon Gabriel may not be the combination that changes that.
So they've got that need at least partially in common, and beyond No. 1 overall expected pick Fernando Mendoza, Alabama's Ty Simpson is the next QB on the board.
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ESPN's Seth Walder singled out these three teams in a new article on Tuesday as the ones who could wind up with Simpson in the first round.
The Jets have the second of two picks at No. 16. The Steelers go at No. 21. And then the Browns' second pick of the round is at No. 24.
"If the Alabama quarterback were to be selected Thursday, the most likely spots are at Nos. 16 (currently the Jets), 21 (Steelers) and 24 (Browns), though he could go at any pick as the result of a trade," Walder writes.
The Jets also have the first pick of the second round, 33rd overall, which would be another logical Simpson spot.
Simpson had a really solid 2025 season for the Crimson Tide, with one of the main concerns being the fact that QBs with just one season of college starting experience don't have a great NFL track record.
A quarterback-needy team will still take Simpson pretty early, though, and anytime a QB is drafted in the early going, hope is high, because draft night is all about optimism.
