The Pittsburgh Steelers started three different quarterbacks in 2023. Kenny Pickett spent most of the season as the entrenched starting quarterback. He was hurt in the first half of the Arizona Cardinals game, and it, for all practical purposes, ended his tenure as the Steelers quarterback for the year. Mitch Trubisky, one of the highest-paid backup quarterbacks in the league, took over for Pickett and played so poorly that he lost the job to Mason Rudolph after the third consecutive loss in December.
Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin Admits He Fell Short Of His 2023 Goal
Last Thursday, Mike Tomlin held his final press conference after the Steelers' season ended with a loss to the Buffalo Bills. It was a refreshingly humble and candid performance by Tomlin that doused some of the fire that had been building under the hottest coaching seat of his 17-year career. Tomlin revealed that he would look outside the organization for a new offensive coordinator and did not commit to maintaining the status quo on defense.
It was almost everything that Steeler Nation needed to hear. During the press conference, Tomlin told the reporters present that he believed that his starting quarterback for 2024 was on the roster. Remember that Rudolph is a free agent, which means they are committed to re-signing him to compete with Pickett, or Pickett is the starter by default. Peter King from Football Morning in America joined Mike Florio on Pro Football Talk on Friday to vocalize how bad an idea that would be for Pittsburgh next season.
“You can’t run it back with Kenny Pickett, Mason Rudolph, and a free agent from Chadron State,” King observed. “You can’t do that. You’ve got to go out and get a quarterback who is going to give you a chance with a representative fairly strong defense to come out in 2024 and compete at the highest level with the Ravens, the Bengals, and the Browns.”
King is correct, and the sooner the organization realizes it, the better it will be for Tomlin and the fan base. The AFC North has two clear-cut franchise quarterbacks, Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens and Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals. The jury is still very much out on Deshaun Watson and the Cleveland Browns. However, even the most rabid fan has to admit that, at best, the Steelers are tied for the worst situation at quarterback in the division.
Watson had shown elite ability for the Houston Texans, but sitting out two seasons has severely impacted his play. The only real advantage that the Steelers currently have in relation to the Browns is that they are not on the hook to pay out the worst contract in NFL history. Steelers fans were hoping they would be players in free agency or possibly work a trade for a potential franchise quarterback, but Tomlin and, by extension, Art Rooney II do not seem interested in doing so.
“As it relates to the offense, I really do wonder if it’s organizational,” Florio retorted. “I wonder how high up the ladder it goes all the way to Art Rooney that they’ve been kind of meat and potatoes. We’re going to play great defense, have a meat-and-potatoes offense, and win games. You’re right. At some point, you have got to step into the 21st century and take advantage of the fact that rules are eschewed in favor of offense as they had in the younger Ben Roethlisberger days.”
Rudolph's performance in the last three games of the 2023 season was the first time the Steelers offense was consistently effective since Roethlisberger retired after the 2021 season. It is possible that Rudolph benefited from sitting on the bench for most of his career. His command of the offense and willingness to throw the ball down the field was a significant departure from his previous turns as the starting quarterback in 2019 and 2021. However, he will likely command a substantial raise to keep him in Pittsburgh.
The last time the Steelers offense was transformed by going outside the organization, Todd Haley was brought in to replace Bruce Arians. The Killer B's era was born, and the Steelers offense became an aerial attack, but it did not much produce playoff success. Pittsburgh attempted to transform the offense again in 2021 when Najee Harris was selected in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft, but it hasn't worked. The Steelers offense posted its worst ranking ever by finishing 28th in the NFL in 2023.
Tomlin and the organization should heed King's advice to seek another solution at quarterback. It will be disappointing if the Steelers do not aggressively pursue a new signal-caller in free agency or by trade. It will be devastating if Rudolph leverages his improved play into a contract with another team, and whoever is tapped as the new Offensive Coordinator can't transform Pickett into an effective starter.
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