The journey toward Super Bowl LII ended far too prematurely for the Pittsburgh Steelers, sending them into offseason mode before we were ready for it. But we are in it now, and are ready to move on, through the Combine, through free agency, through the draft, into OTAs, and beyond.
We have asked and answered a lot of questions over the years and will continue to do so, and at the moment, there seem to be a ton of questions that need answering. A surprise early exit in the postseason will do that to you though, especially when it happens in the way it did.
You can rest assured that we have the questions, and we will be monitoring developments all throughout the offseason process, all the way down to Latrobe. Pending free agents, possible veteran roster cuts, contract extensions, pre-draft visits, pro days, all of it will have its place when the time arises.
Question: Do you think Ben Roethlisberger should have kept his thoughts about drafting a quarterback to himself?
Unless you’re new to the Pittsburgh Steelers, then you know that franchise quarterback Ben Roethlisberger likes to stir the pot every once in a while. How much of it is to achieve an intended effect and how much of it is incidental to him simply speaking his mind is hard to determine and surely varies, but he certainly draws headlines pretty frequently because of his remarks.
Yesterday’s radio interview appearance was one of those times, and surely the most attention-grabbing comments that he has made since he replied to a reporter after throwing five interceptions last season, “maybe I don’t have it anymore”. He played some of the best football of his career after that, of course.
But yesterday he talked a lot about rookie quarterback Mason Rudolph, or more specifically about the team’s decision to draft him, and how he will fit into the team during his first NFL season, and what it means for the other quarterbacks on the roster.
The Steelers do tend to draft a quarterback every few years, but there’s usually a roster spot open for him. They took Rudolph with three already in-house that they ostensibly like. Combined with the fact that he told the front office at the end of the season that he feels like he can play three to five more seasons, he said that he doesn’t feel like the team made the greatest use of its draft resources by taking the quarterback in the third round.
I know for a fact that a lot of Steelers fans actually agree with what Roethlisberger had to say on that topic. But agreeing with him and believing that it’s something that he should have said publicly are not the same thing.
So what do you think? Even if you agree with what the quarterback was getting at in his comments, do you think it was fine for him to say? Should he have kept his thoughts to himself in this case?
