INDIANAPOLIS -- If there would be one quarterback I would be interested in this year if I'm the Steelers, it would be Louisville's Lamar Jackson.
As a passer, Jackson still needs some work. He's a little erratic with his throwing motion and might not be ready to step into a lineup for an NFL team in 2018. But the kid was the most exciting playmaker in college football the past two seasons. Better even than DeShaun Watson, who set the league on fire as a rookie in 2017 before tearing his ACL.
In a loaded quarterback draft class, however, teams went into last weekend at the NFL Scouting Combine looking for reasons to bump Jackson up on their boards ahead of Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen, Baker Mayfield or Josh Allen. Some teams asked to see Jackson work out with the wide receivers.
He flatly refused, insisting he's a quarterback and nothing but a quarterback.
"Whoever likes me at quarterback, that's where I'm going," Jackson said. "That's strictly my position."
So when asked to work out with the receivers, Jackson not only refused, he refused to run, jump or do any of the other agility tests at the combine. Now, that doesn't mean he won't do them at his Pro Day.
Some have suggested that anyone suggesting Jackson work out as a receiver is some kind of racist statement. Nothing could be further from the truth. After all, while there are a number of black college quarterbacks who have been moved to other positions such as wide receiver or running back, there have been some white ones -- Julian Edelman and Scott Frost come to mind off the top of my head -- who have been asked to make the transition once they reach the NFL.
Most of the others, however, are asked to change positions earlier in their careers. That's just how things happen. Take a walk through the Steelers' locker room and you'll find a lot of guys who were high school or college quarterbacks before changing positions. Many are black athletes such as Hines Ward, Deshea Townsend, Mike Mitchell or Antonio Brown. Others are white, such as Heath Miller.
Race had nothing to do with those moves. Typically, their teams had somebody who was a better quarterback. And you want to get your best 22 players on the field, regardless of what color they happen to be.
Which brings us to Jackson and the Steelers.
The Steelers met with Jackson over the weekend, which might surprise some people. But the Steelers also were interested in Watson last year. And despite the fact Ben Roethlisberger has told teammates he wants to play three more seasons, Jackson would be the only quarterback in this draft the team should consider taking in the first round.
Why?
Because he can spend the next two or three seasons learning how to become a better passer. And there won't be any pressure at all on the Steelers to play him at quarterback, something that could retard the process for him.
But the Steelers also could find ways to use him. And yes, that might even include using him at wide receiver at times, much as they did in the 1990s with Kordell Stewart.
This situation, however, is different. The Steelers didn't know how to use Stewart effectively when they finally put him at quarterback. They kept trying to make him a pocket passer.
Now, with so much of the college spread offenses and Run-Pass Options leaking into the NFL -- something new offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner did at both Arkansas State and Memphis -- Jackson could wind up being an NFL star, just as he was in college.
And in the meantime, you could find uses for him on the field. After all, he can say he doesn't want to work out as a receiver now. But once he joins a team and is getting paid, he'll do what is asked of him.
• That is all assuming he'll be getting paid more than he was at Louisville. I jest.
• The Steelers met with a number of players from pretty much every position this weekend. But that's just the team doing its due diligence.
The reason you do that is because you get 60 official visits at the combine. And while you're not going to have the opportunity to draft all of those players, some of them will eventually become available as free agents or via trades.
It's always nice to have something to fall back on besides the tape in those situations.
• I still don't think the Steelers are going to draft Jackson, though his gambit over the weekend could leave him available when they pick. If I had to put a bet on it, linebacker would still be my first pick, with Leighton Vander Esch or Rashaan Evans being the leaders in the clubhouse.
They were the leaders going in and neither did anything to hurt his status. In fact, if anything, Vander Esch might have pushed himself ahead of Evans in the grand scheme of things. He ran a 4.65 40-yard dash at 6-4 and 256 pounds. He also had a 39.5-inch vertical leap and a 4.15-second 20-yard shuttle. Those are the numbers of a much smaller man.
• Austin Meadows continues to show why he had long been considered the Pirates' top prospect. In 10 spring at-bats, he has six hits, a home run, seven RBIs and a ridiculous 1.936 OPS.
The Pirates obviously aren't going to rush Meadows, still just 22. They're showing that by not giving him too much of a look in Bradenton. But he's raking it right now, and if he can prove that he can stay healthy -- something that has been an issue -- he gives some hope for the future.
He's not the next Mike Trout. But the kid does have a career .292 batting average in the minors.
• The Penguins might have faith in their young goaltenders. But after watching them over the past week with Matt Murray out with a concussion, does anyone have faith they're getting through a playoff series with Casey DeSmith or Tristan Jarry between the pipes?
If they don't get back to the Stanley Cup Final this season, there's a good chance it will be because Murray got hurt again and they had no viable backup plan.
Just my two cents. Which would actually be worth three cents in Canada.