Pittsburgh Steelers quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger and Mason Rudolph Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
The Pittsburgh Steelers could be without Ben Roethlisberger on Sunday afternoon. Could that be a blessing in disguise?
In what’s looking like a sure bet to be Roethlisberger’s last season, the Steelers don’t have much of a backup plan. At least, it would seem that way, as Big Ben’s backups are Mason Rudolph and Dwayne Haskins.
Rudolph is a former mid-round pick out of Oklahoma State that the Steelers — at least at the time he was drafted — had high expectations for. In his career, he has an 82.7 quarterback rating, and 15 touchdowns paired with 10 interceptions. Is he going to set the world on fire? No. Is he considerably better than most backups across the NFL? Sure, why not.
The Steelers are running out of time to see what they have in Rudolph. One more tryout as Ben’s heir-apparent could do both sides some good.
Steelers need a plan for when Ben Roethlisberger retires
The Steelers aren’t winning the Super Bowl this season. I think that’s a fair take that won’t get me assaulted on the North Shore. With that in mind, this team is still far too capable to get a high draft pick to select Roethlisberger’s replacement in the 2022 NFL Draft.
So, unless they surprise us all and trade for Aaron Rodgers or another available passer, Pittsburgh must rely on Rudolph/Haskins, and another quarterback they select in the middle rounds.
Rudolph doesn’t have a lot of mobility, but he’s not incapable to the point Matt Canada needs to scrap their usual passing offense. In fact, he might even be able to open things up a bit.
Another start — albeit against the Bengals at home — would allow the Steelers one last chance to see Rudolph in action. The Steelers should still win that game.