Why Steelers WR George Pickens doesn't want another QB change

Mason Rudolph became the third quarterback to start for the Steelers this season with QB Kenny Pickett still recovering from ankle surgery. Wide receiver George Pickens sounds like he would be just fine if there were no more changes at the position.

"The plays that we had dialed up, Mason just let it rip," Pickens told reporters after Pittsburgh's 34-11 win over the Bengals in Week 16. "It's all up to the quarterback. I felt like he was taking more shots."

Rudolph was certainly going deep more than the team has seen from Pickett or backup QB Mitchell Trubisky this year, and Pickens rewarded him for doing so. The second-year wide receiver had 195 yards and two touchdowns on four catches. 

The team is surely not going to allow Pickens, who has been highly criticized for his lack of effort on the field and sideline antics as of late, to make any decisions. But he does have a point.

Rudolph deserves another chance to start after he became the first Steelers quarterback to throw for 250+ yards and two-plus touchdowns since Ben Roethlisberger did it in 2021, per NFL on CBS. Week 16 may have been a fluke, but the Steelers won't know for sure unless they give him the nod once again.

They may do just that anyway as Pickett's recovery time is two to four weeks. The second-year quarterback has now missed three games and Pittsburgh could decide to sit him one more week to get him fully healthy while riding Rudolph's hot hand.

Head coach Mike Tomlin was clearly very impressed with him following the game.

"He's got a belief in himself," Tomlin said. "He's aggressive in his play style and I thought he did a really good job not displaying a lot of rust for a guy who hadn't played a lot."

Only time will tell whether Rudolph will get another opportunity. But if his other teammates feel the same way as Pickens, there may be enough backing to force Tomlin and his coaching staff to ride Rudolph into another week.