On a conference call with Steelers Nation Unite members, Art Rooney II said that the Steelers are comfortable with their quarterback situation.
That may surprise some fans as the Steelers only had their hall of fame QB for six quarters last year and had to turn to undrafted rookie free agent Devlin Hodges to play meaningful snaps. It...didn't go well.
Mason Rudolph wasn't as bad as fans think. The first Browns game was a travesty, and he was equally as brutal in the first half of the second Bengals game. Apart from that, he was serviceable.
I think you can live with a backup QB of Mason Rudolph's caliber. Look around the league...there aren't that many good backup QB's. Rudolph is fine.
The Steelers won't be able to afford a veteran backup quarterback. They need to get Bud Dupree under contract, and they need to be thinking about getting something done with T.J. Watt. They need to focus on spending money on players that can help Ben win a championship.
If Ben goes down for a couple of games, the Steelers defense coupled with Mason Rudolph should be able to keep the ship afloat. If the he goes down for the season again, they aren't winning the Super Bowl.
What the Steelers do need is a third quarterback that actually has an NFL arm.
Bless Duck Hodges, but the dude has a Samford arm. That's to say--it ain't good enough.
If the Steelers need to turn to the third quarterback for a short period, it needs to be someone with enough arm strength to at least give the team a shot. Maybe it's Paxton Lynch. Maybe it's someone else.
It doesn't need to be a vet. Someone cheap that can actually spin it. Other than that, keep your fingers crossed and hope Ben can stay healthy for 16 games.