Pittsburgh Steelers training camp is almost here, and the team has several questions that it will need to answer. Arguably the top of their to-do list is figuring out their quarterback situation. Aaron Rodgers is the starter, but it’s unclear what the rest of that room will look like. The Steelers have four quarterbacks on their roster, with Mason Rudolph, Will Howard, and Drew Allar behind Rodgers. It’s unlikely that all four will make the team’s 53-man roster, but Ben Roethlisberger thinks that sticking with Howard and Allar over Rudolph is the right call.
“You want to have two young guys because one of those could be your potential quarterback of the next 5-10 years,” Roethlisberger said Tuesday on his Footbahlin’ podcast. “Potentially, I’m not saying either one is or isn’t a franchise guy. But could be. I think the smart thing is to keep those two guys because I think Aaron [Rodgers] says he’s done after this year…
“I think that’s the smartest move because if you dealt one of them and kept Mason [Rudolph] and Player A, whoever it may be, you’re putting a lot of eggs in that one basket. Now, if you have two young guys, they’re only a year apart, very similar in styles, now you’re like, ‘We can put half our eggs in this basket, half in this basket, see how they do, let them compete.’”
That’s not bad logic. Rudolph is a fine backup, and the Steelers know they can win games with him. He helped them make the playoffs in 2023, and his lone start last year wasn’t too bad. Rudolph completed 24 of his 31 pass attempts for 171 yards, one touchdown, and one interception in a loss to the Chicago Bears.
However, there’s some serious risk with keeping Howard and Allar over Rudolph. Rodgers is 42 years old, and his body has a lot of wear and tear. There’s a real chance that he could miss time in 2026.
If that’s the case, the Steelers could be replacing him with an unknown in Howard or Allar. Neither of them has even played in a preseason game yet. Allar is a third-round rookie and needs time to work on his mechanics. Meanwhile, Howard was a sixth-round pick last year, and a training camp injury kept him off the field. There’s no telling what level either of them will be at this year.
It could backfire, but it wouldn’t be the first time that the Steelers kept two young backups to sit behind their veteran starter. They did something similar in 2018. The Steelers desperately need a long-term answer under center, and that’s not Rudolph. However, it could be Howard or Allar. That possibility might be enough to outweigh the risk of not having a veteran behind Rodgers.