The Pittsburgh Steelers had their first preseason game on August 13, when they defeated the Green Bay Packers 28-9. Despite the victory, the game shifted attention to the Steelers’ long-term quarterback issues. And according to NFL Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe, the franchise’s shaky future is linked with their affection towards Ben Roethlisberger.
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“They got to find a quarterback,” Sharpe said on the Nightcap Podcast. They need one badly. I mean, obviously they waited too long to deal with Ben Roethlisberger. They didn’t want to tick him off. But you can’t be afraid of that because it leaves your franchise in hell. Not even purgatory, because in purgatory you kind of hover in between heaven and hell, but they leave you in hell…
“You see what Green Bay did. They pissed Aaron Rodgers off. But they got a bridge for the future though. Hey, not just any bridge. That was a damn bridge. You see what the Kansas City did? They had Alex Smith… You’ve got to think like that. You can’t be afraid to take these quarterbacks off because, oh, I didn’t want to upset him. But when he retired, then what?”
Ben Roethlisberger spent 18 seasons of his NFL career with the Pittsburgh Steelers. During his tenure, the franchise was often targeted for not developing Roethlisberger’s successor, especially after the quarterback underwent right elbow surgery in 2019, which reduced his arm strength.
Now, as things stand, the Steelers’ current franchise QB, Aaron Rodgers, is entering his final NFL season. After him, Mason Rudolph is the only QB left with veteran experience compared to Will Howard and Drew Allar.
However, Rudolph’s preseason outing against the Packers, passing for 93 yards while taking two sacks, didn’t give a promising look.
Mason Rudolph was once deemed the potential successor for Ben Roethlisberger. However, when Roethlisberger suffered the elbow injury in 2019, Rudolph was handed the starting job. He racked up 1,765 passing yards while posting 13 touchdowns in 10 regular-season games.
Yet, Rudolph was deemed unprepared for the role as head coach Mike Tomlin benched him in favour of undrafted free agent Devlin Hodges.
Rudolph never got enough opportunities after that. Meanwhile, the Steelers opted for stopgap solutions instead of developing Roethlisberger’s successor. It started with Mitch Trubisky in 2022, then Russell Wilson and Justin Fields made their appearances, with now Aaron Rodgers entering his second and final season with the franchise.
However, the likes of Drew Allar, who threw for 153 yards while posting two touchdowns against the Packers, and Will Howard, who ran for 86 yards in about 15 minutes of game time, looked promising. Still, they are in their developmental phase who are yet to play an NFL regular-season game.
So, it will be interesting to see who the Steelers deem as their future QB between Rudolph, Allar, and Howard.