Is Ben's replacement on the team?

Does anyone have a qualified impression of Dobbs or Rudolph? It's become my belief that you have to have an elite, or nearly elite, QB these days if you want to be a perennial playoff contender.

Do we wait until Ben is clearly done and then trade, move up, do whatever is necessary, to get a top two QB in that years draft? Or do we hope to nurture a guy like Rudolph into that role ...... which I don't think is possible.

I hated the Dobbs pick and still do.

I hated the Rudolph pick because we needed to spend every pick we had at that point trying to shore up a bad D. I like what I've seen but I'm sure there are some people who know more about him.

 

Sort of answered your own thread question there. You stated you hated the Rudolph pick because there were players who could have assisted on defense. Keep in mind though, this year's group of Quarterbacks is not very good. In hindsight, Mason Rudolph was the smart play.



That being said and, to answer your question, yes, Ben's successor is on the team. For that matter, all the more reason the extension is taking so long. Ben likely wants to play for four more years. Art Rooney II likely wants him for three at the most but two being ideal.

 

Look at how many impact defensive players were picked at Rudolph and beyond in last years draft and get back to me.


No if you have a potential Franchise QB available with a 3rd round pick, pull the trigger. That was a great pick, EVEN IF Rudolph ends up being a solid backup player in this league. Can't win without a good QB anymore in this league.

As for QB in this draft, no don't touch it with a 10 foot pole. There are FAR too many other needs on this team.

Dobbs is going into his 3rd year now. So really no excuses for him now. What we see is what we get. I don't hate the pick, and the guy shows good knowledge of the game, but it's time to see paper translate to the field.

So yeah don't worry about QB now.

Get weapons around Ben and build the defense.

 

Not enough tape on Dobbs and there's no regular season tape yet on Rudolph. Dobbs was great vs. Ravens, not so good vs. Raiders. To really get a sense of how good a QB is... we'd have to see them play for 2-3 games. I don't see that happening until Ben retires... since the rules have really helped the marquis NFL QBs stay healthy.

 

I don't know what you mean about answering my own question? I don't think Dobbs or Rudolph is the answer because it's just super rare to get an elite QB in the middle rounds, but if someone has some insight on why either one of them might be a legit contender I'd love to know more.

I was just looking at what impact defensive players were taken in the next 10 picks and while their really aren't any that stood out for the team that drafted them, I guess I feel that it was a bird in the hand thing. We knew Rudolph would not contribute in the next 2-3 years and we were just as desperate for defensive help last year as we are this year. So as much as I like what I see from Rudolph I agreed with Ben, go for broke now and re-tool at QB when this short window of opportunity is closed.

 

Totally agree with that assessment.

Totally agree with that assessment.Ben’s not going anywhere for the next few years and Rudolph was a great value pick at 3 as some teams had him as a late 1st round pick.Too early to make an easement on Rudolph based on his first year in preseason games.Dobbs is not a starter in the league but did show improvement last year and could be a decent backup.Thought they took Edmunds too soon but we will find out more this year as our overall first round picks on defense minus Watt have been disastrous over the last five years.Qb in the draft this year would be a total waste of a pick as we have other pressing issues.

 

Yes, PLEASE, BEN, DO NOT try to play 4 more years! Don't be one of those guys who try to "hang on" and continue to play way too long. I can already see this past year, what Bill Belechick calls "diminished skills" in your game. Do yourself, and Steeler fans, a favor and know when it's time to hang it up. And that "time" is pretty close, imho.

To you young Steeler fans who don't even know what a Steelers team WITHOUT Ben looks like, it'll be OK. Been following them since the late 1960's. All good things must end, but that just means a new era can begin. I've watched it happen for almost 50 years now.

 

Dobbs threw one pass against the Ravens. It was a hell of a throw in a clutch situation, but It was one play.

He stunk against the Raiders. There is no other way to look at it. The offense was a complete joke with him taking the snaps.

 

I have high expectations that Ben has a better year this year. The guy is all about winning and I think his new-found arm strength backfired on his accuracy last year and I think he will figure it out. JMHO

And he simply doesn't fit any offensive scheme the Steelers should ever run.

 

If Rudolph becomes even a solid NFL starter at quarterback, it was a great pick. If not, it was a significant error because the team took that risk rather than address a need on defense. We simply don't know the answer yet, but I'm leaning toward mistake.

 

I guess my concern goes even deeper. I don't recall too many "solid" NFL QB's being perennial playoff contenders.

 

Until he's thrown in the fire. You have no idea what we have with Rudolph. But, he needs to over take Dobbs in year 2.
If he can't I don't think we have much. It will pretty much be the big pre-season story.
As far as Dobbs. I'm not sure what to think. I saw one amazing throw against the Ravens, and then against the Raiders he couldn't do anything against a terrible defense with extended playing time.

 

Was Bradshaw's replacement on the team? No.

Is Brady's replacement on NE's team? No. Brady is a few years older than Ben and will have this same problem sooner rather than later. You could even argue that Brady had a replacement in Garapollo, but they shipped him off.

Not sure it really matters at this point, we are still in a WIN NOW mode. He gets the big money, so he's expected to perform, no need for some high dollar backup/successor quite yet.

 

I guess it depends on the definition of solid.

If we're talking non-HoF players who produce on a consistent basis, then you might include Philip Rivers, Eli Manning, Joe Flacco, Mariota. All, for me, a step down from the Brady's, Brees', Ben's, and Ryan's off the league, but solid nonetheless.

If we're talking solid as in game manager back-up, then you need a playmaking defense for that to bring success.

I think Rudolph was an opportunistic pick. But as @troybellringer55 says, we won't see what we've got until he's had a few games under his belt.

 

I was looking at some stats about dominant teams and their QB's. Some of the teams near the top of this list caught me by surprise. Other than Brady, Rogers, and Ben, no QB has kept their team in the hunt for a long time.


https://www.foxsports.com/nfl/gallery/every-nfl-teams-10-year-record-ranked-32-1-010417

 

In hindsight, we should have kept Landry Jones. He was the best BU QB we had at the time and he wasn't anywhere near as bad as Dobbs (as mentioned above in the Radiers game). Have no clue what Mason's doing these days or plans for his development/ role. So, were we looking for a Ben replacement and we picked 2 QBs? I remember the drama back then of Ben being an idiot about his future and it screwed getting more defensive talent vs replacing him I believe. We should have kept Jones and one of the two QBs we picked in the draft. I"d feel a lot better knowing we would have somebody with some experience coming off the bench if Ben goes down. Right now, we have a extremely weak QB depth after Ben.

 

All you ever need in the NFL as a QB is have about 7-8 good games. Then they will pay you millions and millions.

Think of all the young QB's that have had great rookie or 2nd years. Like RG III or Derek Carr.

They looked great and then never found the greatness again.

To become a legit franchise guy you got to but a few solid years under your belt.

For the life of me I will never know how Matt Cassel and Sam Bradford get the money they got.
Another one is Matthew Stafford, Stafford is good, but highly over paid and over rated. He's never won anything.
Other than putting up some big stat years, and most of that was with Megatron.

 

Rivers and Manning are hugely over-rated, Flacco probably had his team in the hunt more than the rest of those and we all know what he is/was. Game managers get a lucky combination of defense and good fortune once in a while.

I agree, we had a decent back-up, a gun was pointed to our head regarding the D and the window of opportunity, and we used two draft picks to grab guys who "might" become a back-up now or a replacement once that window of opportunity closes.

A friend who has a bit of inside knowledge said that after Ben blew up about the teams lack of discipline and accountability after the Cowboys game in late 2016, he then threatened retirement over that main issue. The team assured him they would fix the undisciplined nature and shore up the D. They then went out and drafted QB's in successive years and opened the floodgates for the circus. If that is even remotely true, you can see why Ben is pissed and why people question the ownership/management of this team.

 

Yeah Cassel and Garappolo are mind boggling, Jimmy G only had 2 starts under his belt..... 2.... and he landed a big contract. Even if you had your franchise successor on your bench, there's high likelihood he'd get pouched before you could use him.

 

4 QBS and only one starter, this is a make or break year for 3 of these QBs:

https://www.steelers.com/news/steelers-by-position-qbs

 

As someone else pointed out, if he never becomes more than a solid back up that can come in,play a few games, and give you a good chance to win, then he was worth a 3rd just based on that.

 

To clarify are you asking of they have the next starter on the roster if Ben retires next season or are you asking about a Ben clone to step in and run the offense? To often when thus conversation comes up people are really looking for a Ben clone and not a new QB. As long as it is a Ben offense it will be hard for anyone to showcase their skills.

 

Keep in mind when Mason was drafted Ben was whining about retiring.

 

Nah, you don't replace a HOF QB without skipping a few beats. I am hoping to find out some info on Dobbs or Rudolph from people who get to watch practice or pay closer attention to that kind of thing. If you look at the last sentence of my #18 post you will see why I didn't like either of the QB picks at this point in time ...... unless someone has reason to believe one of them can step in when Ben leaves and provide us with a chance to compete.

 

Dobbs still has a deer in the headlights look. That should have been gone. That is not a good sign of a winning QB.