This is the state of the Steelers' quarterback room.
Mike Tomlin's call to start Mason Rudolph over Mitch Trubisky Saturday at 4:30 p.m. against the Bengals -- with the season hanging in the balance -- is not a vote of confidence in Rudolph. It is a way of pulling Trubisky away from the damning acts of throwing the ball to the opposition all while limiting any effectiveness the Steelers possibly could have mustered in the two games he has started since Kenny Pickett sprained his ankle against the Cardinals Dec. 3.
Pickett has a sizable injury history in just 25 games under his belt and his talent when he's actually on the field has been average at best. Trubisky's magic as a one-time Pro Bowler and the former No. 2 overall pick in the draft is long gone. Rudolph was passed over two offseasons ago for both and had to crawl back to Pittsburgh during the last offseason after his fishing line into the free-agent waters didn't gather a bite.
This is what the Steelers are down to. This is the residue of planning with Matt Canada as an offensive coordinator. This is a knock on the scouting department who was held to figuring it out in short order with Ben Roethlisberger walking out the door to follow the 2021 season after a decade and a half of excellence and three sputtering years to conclude his Hall-of-Fame career.
Rudolph feels no pressure within the situation, though, as he'd respond to my question of the pressure to post points as desired by Tomlin.
"No, I don't feel any pressure," Rudolph said after Tuesday's practice on the South Side. "I think we feel a sense of urgency. Coach Tomlin's challenged the whole offense, the passing game to make improvements and the offense as a whole to score more points. That falls heavily on the quarterback to be the catalyst for that. We're all working in that direction. We want to score points. I want to get the ball to the play makers that we have and move the chains."
Here is the sad truth to this current situation: If Rudolph plays well and -- gasp! -- wins Saturday's game, then all eyes will be on Tomlin and his staff for rolling out the wrong quarterback against the Patriots and Colts and, in effect, throwing away the season with Trubisky starting in Pickett's place.
"We got a great deal of comfort with him," Tomlin said of Rudolph Monday. "Why are we making the change? Man, we don't like what we're looking at in the consistency of it. What I mean is we're not scoring enough points. Particularly, as you move into December football, man, you've got to score more than 12, 14, 16 points in games this time of year. You better assume that others are doing the same. The engineering of victory is not going to be fluid if you're not doing those things and, obviously, by nature to position the guy that has the ball, the quarterback position, man, that's a catalyst for change and an opportunity."
If Rudolph struggles against the Bengals, as Pickett and Trubisky have struggled all season, then all eyes will be on Tomlin and his staff for a lack of ability to scout, develop, and succeed with a quarterback that did not carve out a Hall-of-Fame career.
That's a lose-lose situation with no win condition in sight.
Not to mention, this is utterly unfair to Rudolph. Though he's not the second coming of Roethlisberger and never was, he's being thrown into an unideal situation no matter how it's sliced.
"Rudolph, man, he's been a part of our program," Tomlin said. "He knows us, we know him. He's tough minded. He's got a lot of confidence in himself. He's a competitor. And so, those are some of the things that are really attractive about giving him an opportunity this week."
But, Rudolph is taking the high-road approach to the situation he is in.
"I think I smiled a few times today because it's been a while since I've taken reps in walkthrough and been the guy," Rudolph said. "I'm so thankful to God for giving me this opportunity. A lot of gratitude for Mike Tomlin (for) keeping me around, Omar Khan keeping me around, and so i've got the opportunity now, go and make the use of it to the best of your ability.
"... I'm not worried about showing the NFL anything. I'm worried about winning the game this week."
Good on Rudolph for doing so, but this is short-term, plug-and-play solution. That's fine to an extent and especially if Pickett isn't cleared to play, but this offense will have experienced its third quarterback to start a game this season. Six other NFL teams have experienced this: Arizona, Cleveland, Las Vegas, Minnesota, the New York Giants, and the New York Jets. Their combined record is 35-49.
"Right now we're just trying to win," Diontae Johnson said. "It's coach T's decision of who's at quarterback this week. I'm all for it. No matter who's in at quarterback I'm going to make sure I do my job to the best of my ability. My job this week is to get him prepared in practice this week and get the timing down with everybody and get ready for Saturday."
Don't rule this out, either: The 2024 Steelers quarterback depth chart could read in the form of Pickett, a low-cost veteran, and a rookie taken in the draft. Or, it could include a high-profile free agent or trade acquisition that would either relegate Pickett to becoming a backup or igniting a fire underneath him to grow with a new offensive coordinator and compete for his job. That all, of course, depends on who the new coordinator is and what their vision for Pickett is and how that coincides with Tomlin and/or Art Rooney II's visions for the position.
That creates uncertainty, but this NFL is friendly at times to teams who take gambles on uncertainty.
There is uncertainty at the quarterback position. There is uncertainty surrounding the staff of assistant coaches. There is a future to begin planning for, with and without Tomlin and Pickett, which inherently brings uncertainty.
But, even if that uncertainty is tapped into right away, how much trust is there in Rooney, Khan, and the front office to turn those into certainties at the position?
Since drafting Roethlisberger, here is a running list of the quarterbacks picked by the Steelers:
• Omar Jacobs, Round 5, Pick 164 in 2005
• Dennis Dixon, Round 5, Pick 156 in 2008
• Landry Jones, Round 4, Pick 115 in 2013
• Josh Dobbs, Round 4, Pick 135 in 2017
• Rudolph, Round 3, Pick 76 in 2018
• Pickett, Round 1, Pick 20 in 2022
• Chris Oladokun, Round 7, Pick 241 in 2022.
Now, the Steelers were never going to utilize anything greater than a Day 2 selection on a quarterback during Roethlisberger's prime. But, seeing Dobbs have some success this year while Rudolph and Pickett struggle in Pittsburgh is somewhat an indictment on this staff's ability to scout, develop, and judge the position. And, seeing backups and no-names like Joe Flacco, Tommy DeVito, Tyson Bagent, Jake Browning, Gardner Minshew, Aidan O'Connell and, as of Monday, Drew Lock post bright statlines and lead their respective teams to wins is an indictment of the Steelers' flawed offensive system.
"I think you can never replicate game reps," Rudolph said. "I understand that. But I think the way I try to prepare myself each week -- practice reps, stuff afterwards, stuff before, taking care of my body -- I think I try to give myself the best to cut down on the learning curve and get back into the flow like today. Felt good, and I think I know how to play football and I think it'll be fine."
Consider this: Flacco has thrown for 250 or more yards and two-plus passing touchdowns in three consecutive games for the Browns. No Steelers quarterback has done that since Roethlisberger retired.
Certainly, Pickett hasn't.
Pickett's fourth-quarter magic is an intangible that is craved among quarterbacks. His six fourth-quarter comebacks and seven game-winning drives in his 25 career games is absolutely noteworthy to an extent. And, in a sense, without that late-game success, the Steelers might be in a worse position now than they actually are.
But, in totality, Pickett has not played to his first-round-pick status. A good portion of that reasoning is the prehistoric offensive system he has had to operate within, but another part of that is also his own growth or a lack thereof. His completion percentage is one point lower this season compared to last. His total QBR is 15.4 points lower than last year's. He is getting sacked on 6.6% of dropbacks, nearly even to the 6.5% rate he was sacked last year. His is equally 7-5 as a starter in 2022 and 2023.
That record won't cut it, and it certainly won't get this franchise into the Super Bowl conversation on a consistent basis.
That could change with a new offensive coordinator, but the franchise has to, one, hire the right guy to develop him properly and, two, confirm the requisite skill weapons are in place for Pickett to succeed within the offense.
And, by the way, Pickett has to stay on the field, as he has been unable to do at multiple junctures in his two seasons.
The NFL is full of uncertainty. This is the Steelers jumping onto that carousel.
Rewind, briefly, to just about one month ago, when I wrote about the fear that Tomlin, Pickett, and the Steelers don't want to be living in.
Do you think they're fearing it, at all, yet?
