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The Pittsburgh Steelers head into the off-season with many more questions rather than answers. With holes to fill and improve pretty much everywhere, the off-season will look much different to Steeler fans than they have come to expect for the last two decades. Head coach Mike Tomlin and likely soon to retire General Manager Kevin Colbert have plenty of decisions to make regarding the importance of each position the team lacks depth in. The next few weeks, we will take a look at multiple positional groups that need to be addressed throughout the off-season.
One of the biggest questions for the next few months will be: How does the team, and with who, replace an 18-year Hall of Fame player in Ben Roethlisberger?
For starters, we know that Mason Rudolph is under contract for 2022 and Dwayne Haskins is a restricted free agent and will presumably be back. The easiest piece of this puzzle is knowing both of these guys will be competing for a starting spot. The most complicated piece is: who the heck is going to be the third quarterback on the roster? Tomlin noted that he is open to either another veteran quarterback through free agency, or looking through the upcoming NFL Draft. While options are plentiful in free agency, the draft class is weak at the signal caller position. Colbert and Tomlin traditionally draft very well, but the key part will be to not settle for and draft a quarterback just to do it.
When we take a look at draft prospects, it really comes down to about four players: Malik Willis of Liberty, Kenny Pickett out of the University of Pittsburgh, Matt Corral from Ole Miss and Sam Howell coming from the University of North Carolina. Sure, Desmond Ridder from Cincinnati and Carson Strong of Nevada are names to watch, but they are most likely guys the Steelers would only take if they fell into the second and maybe even fourth round (the team does not currently hold a third round pick).
Willis will most likely be the first off the board as of now. The names to watch are Corral and Howell. The Steelers fan dream is to have Pickett stay in Pittsburgh and be at the helm for over a decade. However, I think Pickett will go shortly after Willis or vice versa. Again, the Steelers won’t reach for this pick. There are many glaring needs other than quarterback and if the perfect guy for them isn’t available at the perfect draft pick, we won’t see them take a quarterback within the first two rounds this year.
On free agent market, Marcus Mariota comes to mind and might be a fit for Matt Canada‘s offense. We also can’t ignore Mitchell Trubisky and maybe even Jacoby Brissett. All are possible and viable options at very reasonable prices. Are any of these guys the future? No, most likely not, but it would be beneficial to bring in another competitive guy who would push both Rudolph and Haskins. I would certainly look past Teddy Bridgewater due to his potential asking price, but another big name is Jameis Winston even though he is coming off a season-ending ACL injury.
It’s also fun to think about scenarios where Aaron Rodgers has a disappointing postseason and wants out of Green Bay, Russell Wilson leaves Seattle or even the San Francisco 49ers move on from Jimmy Garoppolo. While I believe are highly unlikely, we can’t exactly throw it off the table. Why? Tomlin has never had a glaring need for a quarterback in his tenure as coach. Heck, the organization hasn’t had to worry about it in 18 years. One can say they won’t go this route because it isn’t the “Steeler way,” but times change and the approach to the next quarterback in Pittsburgh could be extremely unconventional in terms of what the fans expect.
One thing is certain and it is that there will be a quarterback Steeler fans are not used to dawning the black and gold in 2022. The main question becomes: who will it be and will he be a permanent or temporary solution? As Tomlin said, all options are on the table and we could absolutely be surprised at what they do to improve the situation at quarterback this off-season.
Who do you want the third quarterback to be on the 2022 roster? Let us know in the comments below!
#SteelerNation
Support SteelerNation by clicking here to read the story..
One of the biggest questions for the next few months will be: How does the team, and with who, replace an 18-year Hall of Fame player in Ben Roethlisberger?
For starters, we know that Mason Rudolph is under contract for 2022 and Dwayne Haskins is a restricted free agent and will presumably be back. The easiest piece of this puzzle is knowing both of these guys will be competing for a starting spot. The most complicated piece is: who the heck is going to be the third quarterback on the roster? Tomlin noted that he is open to either another veteran quarterback through free agency, or looking through the upcoming NFL Draft. While options are plentiful in free agency, the draft class is weak at the signal caller position. Colbert and Tomlin traditionally draft very well, but the key part will be to not settle for and draft a quarterback just to do it.
When we take a look at draft prospects, it really comes down to about four players: Malik Willis of Liberty, Kenny Pickett out of the University of Pittsburgh, Matt Corral from Ole Miss and Sam Howell coming from the University of North Carolina. Sure, Desmond Ridder from Cincinnati and Carson Strong of Nevada are names to watch, but they are most likely guys the Steelers would only take if they fell into the second and maybe even fourth round (the team does not currently hold a third round pick).
Willis will most likely be the first off the board as of now. The names to watch are Corral and Howell. The Steelers fan dream is to have Pickett stay in Pittsburgh and be at the helm for over a decade. However, I think Pickett will go shortly after Willis or vice versa. Again, the Steelers won’t reach for this pick. There are many glaring needs other than quarterback and if the perfect guy for them isn’t available at the perfect draft pick, we won’t see them take a quarterback within the first two rounds this year.
On free agent market, Marcus Mariota comes to mind and might be a fit for Matt Canada‘s offense. We also can’t ignore Mitchell Trubisky and maybe even Jacoby Brissett. All are possible and viable options at very reasonable prices. Are any of these guys the future? No, most likely not, but it would be beneficial to bring in another competitive guy who would push both Rudolph and Haskins. I would certainly look past Teddy Bridgewater due to his potential asking price, but another big name is Jameis Winston even though he is coming off a season-ending ACL injury.
It’s also fun to think about scenarios where Aaron Rodgers has a disappointing postseason and wants out of Green Bay, Russell Wilson leaves Seattle or even the San Francisco 49ers move on from Jimmy Garoppolo. While I believe are highly unlikely, we can’t exactly throw it off the table. Why? Tomlin has never had a glaring need for a quarterback in his tenure as coach. Heck, the organization hasn’t had to worry about it in 18 years. One can say they won’t go this route because it isn’t the “Steeler way,” but times change and the approach to the next quarterback in Pittsburgh could be extremely unconventional in terms of what the fans expect.
One thing is certain and it is that there will be a quarterback Steeler fans are not used to dawning the black and gold in 2022. The main question becomes: who will it be and will he be a permanent or temporary solution? As Tomlin said, all options are on the table and we could absolutely be surprised at what they do to improve the situation at quarterback this off-season.
Who do you want the third quarterback to be on the 2022 roster? Let us know in the comments below!
#SteelerNation
Support SteelerNation by clicking here to read the story..
