The Pittsburgh Steelers entered the 2024 season needing consistency at quarterback after going 10-7 and losing in the first round of the playoffs the year before. A year later, they find themselves in the exact same situation. As the Steelers struggle to find their QB of the future, FOX Sports’ Colin Cowherd is playing his tiniest violin for them.
“This is all on the Steelers,” Cowherd said Monday on The Herd. “When Ben [Roethlisberger] was aging, they drafted Mason Rudolph. Ben didn’t like it, and they [Steelers] were like ‘Okay, we don’t wanna offend Ben.’ Get over it.”
It’s an argument that’s increased the further out from Roethlisberger’s retirement. The Steelers were still competitive when he left the game, so they didn’t need an answer at the position immediately. However, their lack of a plan in moving on from him has been apparent. Other teams, like the Green Bay Packers with Jordan Love, the Kansas City Chiefs with Patrick Mahomes, and even the Baltimore Ravens with Lamar Jackson, have done significantly better at preparing for life after their former franchise quarterbacks.
Cowherd pointed to specific decisions the Steelers made that placed them in their predicament.
“By the time it was too late, it was a terrible quarterback class, and you reached on Kenny Pickett, who I was told was a third-round pick,” Cowherd said. “This is all the Steelers. With a defensive culture, spending all their money on the defensive side of the ball. Now they look up and they’ve got two C-plus quarterbacks.”
To be fair, the team’s spending on the defense did pay off for quite a while. Cowherd routinely calls out the Steelers for not being able to find a quarterback, but they’ve remained competitive despite that because of their defense. Still, cracks showed late in 2024, and nobody on that side of the ball is getting any younger.
Going back to the quarterback conversation, Cowherd offers a salient point. Drafting Kenny Pickett where they did was a reach. The Steelers did it out of desperation to find their next quarterback, and the reason they were even in that position was their lack of a plan after Roethlisberger.
Now, things look confusing, and there are a couple of different routes Pittsburgh can take. They can try to improve the roster and bring back Wilson or bring in a veteran like Matthew Stafford or Sam Darnold. The Steelers could also retain Justin Fields and hope he becomes their future. Whatever the Steelers do, they’ll be hoping to find their first bit of consistency at the most important position in the game in quite awhile.
