Howard or Rudolph?

Howard or Rudolph?

Unless the Steelers keep four quarterbacks, one has to go. And unless Will Howard clearly wins the backup QB battle in camp, I think he’ll be the odd man out. Aaron Rodgers isn’t likely to play more than 15 games at his age, and the Steelers should be in the playoff hunt. That means we’ll need a reliable, experienced backup. It sucks for Will. If the Steelers truly viewed him as the heir apparent, they wouldn’t have drafted Allar.

Now for a curveball:

If another team’s starter goes down in training camp and the Steelers can swing a trade for Mason Rudolph, that actually improves Howard’s chances of staying on the roster. But Howard has to show real flashes in camp for that scenario to even be possible.

Until the last week of camp, no way should we cut or trade either player.

 

i'd cut all the other QB's except the hand picked chosen one to lead the team for the next 20 years to twenty super bowl wins. you know the guy.

 

Howard has to be really bad to be cut instead of rudy

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nf...S&cvid=6a0ef4cd2d0a42ea9aaf352ea5a3c58a&ei=27

https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=ec42...1hbHJlYWR5LWltcHJlc3NpbmctbWlrZS1tY2NhcnRoeS8

seems to like mason.

 

The backup QB battle should be a fun watch.

 

For those who missed it, or don’t want to repeat themselves, this subject has been well discussed here

https://thesteelersfans.com/forums/threads/ota’s.36679/

And here

https://thesteelersfans.com/forums/threads/rodgers-is-coming-back.36650/

 

Just what we needed another thread about the backup QBs .

 

Lets hope whoever makes the team, they are prepared to play winning football if AR goes down. Not
just check downs. real offensive football.

 

If anything it could be Rodgers Rudolph Allar and Howard going to the Practice squad.

 

I've seen enough of Rudolph to know he's not it. I know NOTHING of the other two. let's see what they got.

 

Will we know enough by end of camp? Maybe wait till end of preseason.

 

we still need a reliable backup

 

If AR were to go down for the season, I personally would much rather go with the young guys. I would hate to give up on either one of them without knowing without knowing what they can do. I do understand it could be a problem, though.It's late in the season and we're in a close race for the division and Aaron gets hurt, you would want a veteran.

 

i can understand that and sort of agree. Even though the steelers wont admit it, this is an unofficial rebuilding year (to me anyway). Good time to really see what the young guys can do.

 

MR had that good three game winning streak in 2023 where he played well. Hasnt done much since, but this is a whole new system with an apparently better offensive philosophy. He might come in and play well.

everyone in that previous run first super conservative offense looked bad for the last 5 or 6 years.

 

You're probably right, but unfortunately the guy that we want to keep, in a 'win right now' situation, is a 6th rd pick with exactly zero snaps taken.

 

We haven't seen Howard do anything resembling NFL football, so I don't really have a reasonable answer to this question.

Hopefully he can stay on the field this offseason so his talent can be evaluated better.

We know that Mason is a competent backup who will never be a medium to long term starter for a team that is trying to win. He's a good guy to have on a roster though. Because he probably isn't going to be terrible if he has to come in off the bench.

Howard is just a mystery box. In a game where most mystery boxes are empty.

 

It's likely that the offense will be based on short passes when the starter is playing.

If we get a back up who has never played a snap in the NFL, I doubt we'll make the decision to dramatically increase air yards per attempt.

 

you could look at it the other way; maybe being in a more aggressive system; taking more shots downfield, will play to his strengths. Isnt that how he thrived at Oklahoma? I dont think they should be too quick to release him.

 

Cut Rudolph or carry 4 QB`s.

 

Mason has a 106.1 Qb rating with Steelers since 2023, and that includes games at Bills and Bears. That is pretty good. Aaron Rogers had a 94.1 QB rating with Steelers last year. He outplayed Rodgers in game against Cincinnati when he came in after halftime and the score were practically tied (10-9). He was one illegal formation penalty away from probably winning against the Bears in Chicago, which turned out to be a good team. Mason in an interview mentioned that the team wants to win now and that's why they brought in Aaron. He also added that he's won games in nfl and he can contribute as a backup. If I am guessing, Mason was probably told about this by McCarthy and his role and that is why he is repeating this. Otherwise this might be considered presumptive by a back up qb. Howard doesn't have an nfl arm, otherwise he wouldn't be drafted in 6th round and Steelers wouldn't have drafted Allar this year. This is what AI says about Howard "scouts were concerned about his inconsistent accuracy, below-average arm strength, and tendency to struggle with his mental processing when pressured." McCarthy has been in the nfl for decades and has a good idea what Howard is and can be from what he has seen.