The Steelers kicked off 2025 in the middle of a full-blown quarterback crisis—no clear starter, no real direction. Fast forward, and things flipped quicker than a Hail Mary hits the end zone. Aaron Rodgers is now in town, here to (hopefully) end the postseason drought. Right behind him? Mason Rudolph, the ex-Steeler with seven years of NFL miles on him. Sure, Skylar Thompson and Will Howard are in the room, but Rodgers and Rudolph are locked in as QB1 and QB2.

Which begs the question: if Rodgers goes down, can Rudolph carry the load? Mark Kaboly thinks so: “If Aaron Rodgers gets hurt again on play one or two, I think they can still win 9–10 games with Mason as your starting quarterback,” he said. The logic tracks if we’re being real. Rudolph spent his first six years in Pittsburgh and just lit up the Jaguars in the preseason opener. The guy went 9-for-10 for 84 yards and a touchdown.

So, when Mike Tomlin sat Rodgers aside and gave Rudolph the reins, you could feel the optimism buzzing. Steelers’ insider, Garry Dulac, of the Post-Gazette, recently reported that “(Mike) Tomlin said Mason Rudolph will start against the Bucs.” After torching the Jaguars with a 31-25 win, the Steelers will face Tampa Bay on Saturday. And as expected, Rudolph seems to be the starter.

The 30-year-old kicked things off in the preseason opener before Thompson took over for the remainder of the game. Thompson, who’s competing against rookie Howard for the QB3 role, finished with 20/28 thrown for 233 yards and racked up three touchdowns. Rudolph, on the other hand, had a limited presence on the field, sure. But he surely turned heads. “Really cool, really fun,” Rudolph said of returning to play for the Steelers following the game.

“Good to be back in the black and gold, man. Just a lot of friends, a lot of dear friends and coaches that I’ve spent a lot of time with. And there’s just a level of comfortability there that you can’t really replace.” Meanwhile, Tomlin’s decision to keep Rodgers away makes sense considering the quarterback had just been stepped on and suffered a minor bruise on his leg.

Besides, choosing Rudolph over Rodgers is undoubtedly a precautionary measure to keep the 41-year-old quarterback healthy for the regular season. On the flip side, Aaron Rodgers wrapped up the training camp… and let’s just say the quarterback showed off some tough love for his teammate.

Aaron Rodgers’s body language raised eyebrows at practice

Being a 20-year NFL vet, Aaron Rodgers has never shied away from dishing out some tough love to his teammates. Take the last season’s “red-line incident.” During the Week 6 showdown against the Bills, when WR Mike Williams repeatedly lined up incorrectly, Rodgers straight-up claimed that “He (Williams) got to be on the red line.” It was classic Rodgers—demanding precision, holding teammates accountable, and setting the tone for the offense.

Fast forward to now, the team has changed, but Rodgers? Still the same. If the chatter carries any weight, Rodgers dished out that classic tough love he’s famous for to rookie running back Kalen Johnson. The back ran the wrong route in practice, and that was it for Aaron Rodgers, as he was clearly upset. “It wasn’t some hushed sideline chat,” one practice attendee confirmed. “You could see Rodgers’ body language from across the field.”

The writing is on the wall: Rodgers has taken the leadership role in the Steel City. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves—Rodgers’ reaction to Johnson might look alarming at first glance, sure. But deep down, it’ll only benefit the rookie running back. That said, the Steelers are now preparing to face the Buccaneers on Saturday. So, mark your calendars.