Entering a crucial offseason, the Pittsburgh Steelers are in a precarious situation at the starting quarterback.
Head coach Mike Tomlin and team president and owner Art Rooney II publicly announced that Kenny Pickett would enter the offseason as the QB1 and was considered the starter, but noted that the franchise would compete for the most important position after Pickett. sports
Internally, however, points of view may differ. Well, at least according to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
In an article Saturday morning looking at the quarterback position heading into the offseason, Dulac noted that there is an “internal rift” within the franchise over who should be the starting quarterback in 2024, Pickett or veteran Mason Rudolph. .
“In fact, there seems to be an internal split that maybe Mason Rudolph should be the starter after he finishes the 2023 season and wins the final three regular-season games to make the playoffs,” Dulac writes about the quarterback prospect.
This doesn’t seem like a surprise given how Mason Rudolph finished the season with the Steelers.
Rudolph started as the starter in Week 16 against the Cincinnati Bengals at Acrisure Stadium and immediately led the Steelers offense to its best performance of the season. Rudolph and the Steelers scored 34 points on the Bengals as Rudolph had three double-doubles on two long touchdowns and an explosive air play with wide receiver George Pickens.
In Week 17 on the road against the Seattle Seahawks, Rudolph remained the starter and led the Steelers to 30 points, teaming again with Pickens — and this time with Diontae Johnson — as the Steelers won again. Then Rudolph performed under dire circumstances in Week 18 on the road against the Baltimore Ravens, capping the road win with a 70-yard touchdown pass to Johnson in the rain.
After a season of offensive struggles, Rudolph gave the Steelers a real spark that led to a strong performance late in the season. He also played relatively well in the playoff loss, despite throwing a fatal interception in the end zone.
But because of his performance late in the season, there seems to be internal discord over what the Steelers should do with their starting quarterback in 2024. There is a group that continues to believe in Pickett as a franchise-caliber quarterback. Tomlin and Rooney are in that camp.
But then there may be men less involved with Picket who want to see Rudolph get a chance after his performance. Remember, many of the front office hires came after Pickett was selected in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft following the retirement of GM Kevin Colbert.
Right now it looks like the Steelers will stick with Pickett and give him a three-year option. The Steelers want Rudolph back in a big way, but they have to make it happen and Rudolph has to want to come back. But there certainly seems to be internal disagreement over who should be the Steelers’ starting quarterback.
Not going away anytime soon either..
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