Mason Rudolph is the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Week 17 quarterback.
For Week 18? Who knows.
That is NFL Network Ian Rapoport’s read of the situation. In a Sunday morning report for NFL Gameday, Rapoport said the Steelers’ quarterback pecking order is up in the air after today’s game.
“Consider this. Kenny Pickett should be fully healthy next week,” Rapoport said. “Is still considered the starter. Is 2-0 against the Ravens. We will see. I would consider their quarterback decisions next week to be firmly up in the air.”
Rudolph will start his second-straight game after a great performance against the Cincinnati Bengals last week. He entered this week as the team’s presumed starter, Pickett working only in limited fashion for a second-straight week, and Rudolph was officially named the starter on Friday.
It’s likely that Mike Tomlin’s decision on next week’s starter against the Baltimore Ravens will be based off Rudolph’s performance today against the Seahawks. If Rudolph again plays well and the Steelers win, it’ll be impossible for Tomlin to sit him in the finale. And Pickett will have officially lost his job. But if Rudolph struggles, Tomlin will likely turn back to Pickett for the finale. As Rapoport noted, Pickett’s had success against Baltimore, leading game-winning drives last year and in a Week Five matchup, throwing the game-winning touchdown to WR George Pickens.Â
While Tomlin and the Steelers have previously always stood by Pickett, Pittsburgh is going to have plenty of questions about the future of its quarterback position come the offseason. At this point, there’s no guarantee Pickett will even enter 2024 as the starter. What if Rudolph plays well and leads Pittsburgh into the playoffs? How will the Steelers handle his contract, a pending free agent in the offseason? How will Pickett handle being benched? How will Tomlin be able to call him their franchise guy? Even Rapoport’s commentary seems to contradict itself, calling Pickett the starter while acknowledging the situation is fluid.
For Tomlin, arguably the “easiest” decision he could have is for Rudolph to struggle yet the Steelers still find a way to win against the Seahawks, and he turns to Pickett against the Ravens. All that matters now is getting a road win against Seattle and there’s clarity at quarterback to do that, Rudolph the starter. After that, things get murky.
