Farabaugh: Steelers Can’t Let Recent QB Success Distract Them from 2024 Need

SEATTLE — Mason Rudolph is having one nice run here late in the season for the Steelers. What he is giving them is earth-shattering for this offense, but it’s getting the football to all the right players and allowing these playmakers to make plays out there. It’s enjoyable watching in the moment as Rudolph, who thought he might go into commercial real estate, is having a career renaissance.

In addition, Rudolph needs to start next week and in the playoffs. This is his team now, and the group is finally jelling together after seasons of disarray. It feels like a group that has found points to rally around behind their confident quarterback.

“I’d probably just say guys coming together,” George Pickens said of what sparked the offense. “You go through, like, so much adversity during the season, and these 15, 16 games toward the end, I feel like guys now are really locking in. All we got is ourselves.”

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph plays against the Seattle Seahawks In the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

What is Rudolph doing to make him pop? It’s not rocket science. In the NFL, even with the craze for athleticism and off-script playmaking, they matter; what matters to sustainable quarterback play is winning inside the pocket. Rudolph gets his eyes to the right place, gives his guys chances to make plays, and moves well in the pocket instead of collapsing. I can point to three throws under pressure that were off-target, but he gave it a whirl, and his receivers made plays against Seattle. That’s all good. Good receivers can make quarterbacks look good.

But this is about more than just a two-game sample size. The Steelers have a huge decision to make this offseason at quarterback. In light of the win and the push for the playoffs, it’s tough to look at that, but this decision must be at the forefront for Omar Khan and Mike Tomlin. If Rudolph plays over Kenny Pickett, which he should, it seems complicated to justify Pickett going into 2024 as the starter. It’s tough to run a Pickett and Rudolph room into 2024 and expect different results.

Rudolph is showing himself to be an excellent backup. He’s my type of backup. Give me someone who can point guard a team; there’s much to do there. I love Jacoby Brissett for this reason, and you can see the difference in Washington whenever he enters the game over Sam Howell. But a two-game sample size will not convince me that Rudolph needs to be a starter in 2024. I would pursue him in the offseason as the dependable backup. And listen, we will see if this sticks for him. Plenty of other quarterbacks have looked great, only to struggle later.

Bengals QB Jake Browning against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Dec. 23, 2023 – Ed Thompson / Steelers Now

It happened to Jake Browning during Rudolph’s ascendancy last week. Josh Dobbs, Tommy DeVito, Tyson Bagent, P.J. Walker. They’ve all eventually come back to Earth. Next week against the Ravens, and any potential playoff games, will be massive for that evaluation. Guys like Browning and Dobbs are good NFL backups, not NFL starters. If you think Rudolph is on the same plane as Brissett or Teddy Bridgewater, he’s in the spot starter range.

But the Steelers need to shoot for higher than that. It’s difficult betting on Rudolph to be the next Geno Smith. He was a once-in-a-generation outlier. Rudolph has some serious grit and moxie but has never proven to have the off-script chops a franchise guy would have in this league.

It’s simple for me. You have to go into this offseason with a process and want to find the next franchise quarterback. The options don’t look great. Kirk Cousins is fantastic, but he’s older and coming off an Achilles tear. Justin Fields has his flaws all in the same, and you may have to give up a first-round pick. Other options include Brissett, Baker Mayfield (meh), Russell Wilson (yikes), and others. Pittsburgh will pick too high land for a marquee quarterback talent in the NFL Draft, too. But if a surprise trade could land a franchise quarterback, that is an avenue they have to explore.

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett on the sideline, out with an ankle injury during his team’s win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Dec. 23, 2023. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now

Mitch Trubisky is assuredly gone. Pickett might be, too. That likely opens the door for a mid-round pick to give them a young guy to develop. The bit of quarterback purgatory is a tough place to fight out of, but the Steelers need to do everything they can to get out of it. Promising Rudolph a starting job isn’t the way to go, and neither is a Pickett and Rudolph quarterback room.

I would love to see Rudolph back. I’m in on him as a really good backup in this league. A two-game sample size is not enough for me to run with him as a starter into 2024, though. But time is ticking, and the sample size may only be three games. This Steelers team needs some juice in 2024 at that spot.

And to put it into perspective, Rudolph is splicing up two of the worst defenses in the NFL. It’s great to see. Pittsburgh had not even done that this season. But the barometer is a franchise quarterback. It’s a game-changer. That’s a different beast.

At the very least, someone from the outside must come into this room and attempt to raise the ceiling for quarterback play. This team is likely clinching its ticket to the postseason, with Rudolph being the backup right out of the chute. There’s no great answer on who the Steelers should add at the position this offseason. That’s the commonality.

But they can’t run it back like this. You can’t guarantee anyone in that room a starting job right now. That’s a lousy process. And T.J. Watt, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Cam Heyward, and others are getting a year older and are ready to win now. They must find the guy to help them win meaningful playoff games. That’s the goal of the 2024 offseason. I’m not convinced, by a longshot, that guy is on the roster right now.

Alan Saunders contributed reporting from Seattle.