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The Pittsburgh Steelers have rolled the dice the past two seasons at the quarterback position. When you have a franchise quarterback, teams can always plan on having him there to help win football games.
In 2018, the Steelers parted ways with veteran backup Landry Jones and went into the season with Joshua Dobbs as the primary backup and rookie Mason Rudolph as QB3 on the depth chart. The team didn’t have to use Dobbs other than for one pass in Baltimore and a few series in Oakland.
In 2019, the Steelers played with fire again, but got burned this time. They traded Dobbs to the Jacksonville Jaguars after week 1, and declared Mason Rudolph the backup and added Devlin Hodges to the practice squad. Then Week 2 happened and the Steelers were faced with two quarterbacks with zero NFL regular season snaps under their belt to help lead the team to the postseason.
After a 3-game losing streak to finish the regular season sank the Steelers to 8-8, ending their postseason hopes, many fans are wondering if the team will go out and get a veteran backup in case Roethlisberger goes down again, or is ineffective after elbow surgery. Many would love to have a player like Ryan Fitzpatrick on the roster, someone who has experience, smarts and the ability to win games if called upon.
Mike Tomlin was asked about this during his end of the season press conference Tuesday. He mentioned that he didn’t even know who would be available via free agency, but he did know one thing — Mason Rudolph is the team’s backup next season.
This per Brooke Pryor of ESPN:
Mike Tomlin says Mason Rudolph returns as the backup to Ben Roethlisberger.
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) December 31, 2019
He's comfortable with Mason Rudolph. Says he's disappointed he missed the amount of time he did. Says he missed time due to injuries and performance.
After he was asked about bringing in a veteran backup and Rudolph’s status, he was asked about Hodges.
This per Bob Pompeani of KDKA:
Tomlin on Mason Rudolph “I am comfortable with Mason Rudolph “. Follow up Question “ You feel the same about Hodges?” Answer—“Mason Rudolph is the backup”
— Bob Pompeani (@KDPomp) December 31, 2019
Simple enough.
Tomlin is speaking to the media just days after the team’s season ended, and he labeled himself as still “numb” over the way things ended for his unit. While he said Rudolph will be the primary backup next season, a lot can change over the course of an offseason.
Be sure to stay tuned to BTSC for the latest news and notes surrounding the black-and-gold as they embark on another ridiculously long offseason with seemingly no end in sight.