Should we pick up the steel duck?

I'm not touching this discussion with a 10 foot pole.

 

I am no cap expert, as you pointed out. If what you say is true, we are stuck with truly Big Ben, who is starting to eat his way out of the league. As far as Duck goes, team are going to take away his main weapons that brought him success, i.e. running game and deep to lob to Washington. If he has answer for that, he will succeed. He doesn’t have deer in the headlights look so far, but ‘I will show them I belong, nothing to lose’ attitude. That gives him the ‘calmness’ we have seen so far.

 

Maybe someone will after the season.

 

Hey Steel Hog.

You know how this goes with the back-up QB. Comes and saves the day. However, more often than not it is "short-lived". For our sakes, I do hope Duck, or Mason, turns out to be our next Franchise QB. We all here know what a "Tall Order" that is. Just look at the "drought" between Terry and Ben. Now that really sucked. I am optimistic that Ben does return healthy. That is purely speculation and hope. I have no clue or insight to his injury whatsoever. He is the sole survivor from the team that he helped create in 2004. Once he is gone, then, this will 100% completely be Tomlin's team IMO.

Also, I really would like to know where Ben's head is at in this entire process. I would hope that he is rooting for success for whoever is at the QB helm. However, it is human nature to worry about job security. I get the old adage that "A player should not lose his/her job to injury". I also do not 100% buy into it. Too many factors to consider. For now, I think Ben is Ok to return to the helm once healthy. I just hope he not taking anything for granted. I do not think he is and I do think that he is being supportive of who is in at QB. It is the right thing to do and that is how "I" picture Ben.

STEELWINDS AKA The East Side Kid

 

That is fair. As I said, I just think Hodges has moved past the point of being a practice squad guy. I doubt his upside is anything more than career backup, but teams need guys like that, too.

I remembered hearing about the offers for Beathard during training camp, so I did a quick search for articles about it. They weren't going to get some huge return. The reports had them being offered a sixth-round pick at best. But if teams are willing to trade a six, they would be interested in signing a guy as a free agent.

 

This thread kind of got away from my original premise. I'm not saying keep duck and dump ben. Ben is the starter but we have a seemingly talented backup that I'd like to hold on to. It's not all about this season either. He has shown some capabilities just like in the preseason. I can't remember too many udfas we can compare this type of play to at this position. It would be a shame to allow what seems like a guy with pretty decent upside be grabbed up by another team. Even if he is only a 3rd option. I think he could be quite more then that though. Just his field demeanor says there is something there we need to hang on to.

 

You mean if the defense keeps winning, Hodges is nothing more than a game manager right now, as tomlin said he hasnt hurt us yet, it's pretty obvious he hasnt carried this team on his back yet and untill he scores multiple TDs and can win a game in a shootout he is just a run of the mill UDFA, same goes for rudolph, he hasnt proved nothing either......

 

If Duck can help the Steelers reach the playtoffs in a Jeff Hostetler/Trent Diler 'manage the game' kinda deal, some team may try to pick him up.

 

All I know is we were down 10 points then scored 20 and the Duck was the starting QB who may have had something to do with that. This kid is one of the few things going right right now for this team so let some fans cling on to it if that is what makes this season go by better.

 

They mentioned during the game that Hodges said he really doesn't talk to Ben during the week. This doesn't surprise me really, Ben seems to be a prick unless you're an offensive lineman.

 

Thanks for that Turtle.

Any reason why Hodges does not talk to him? Is this a two-way street issue? I would think though that Mason and Hodges would be seeking out Ben. You know initiating the dialogue and interaction. Ready to absorb that wisdom and knowledge from the Veteran. Which in turn, if what you are stating is accurate, then it would be Ben acting like a "jerk" if this true.

STEELWINDS AKA The East Side Kid

 

I just don't understand where the lack of faith in Duck comes from. Many, myself included, looked at MR's experience and ability coming out of college and thought that with some NFL experience and a little polish, he might be the heir apparent to our HOF'er. Other than some preseason action against vanilla defenses and backups fighting for jobs, he hasn't shown he deserves to even be on the ps. Duck threw for more yards in college, albeit against lesser competition. But he also didn't have the best receiver in college to throw to. He is green. He makes rookie mistakes. But he can throw, accurately. His teammates respect him. His receivers trust him. And we are a better team with him under center (regardless of center).

Duck has had less to work with than MR. He has less time to prepare for games than MR. What does he do with that? Succeed.

I trust him as the starting qb of the Pittsburgh Steelers until he proves me wrong. And until he does, he's the best qb for this team, active or inactive.

One other thing. In regard to teams getting film on him, I don't know what they are going to really get. They might throw some different coverages to see how he reads them, but I don't know that there can be much to exploit other than his pocket presence. And that can be taken care of by better blocking up front. If the OL does its job, Duck should fly.

 

I don't know exactly, but my guess would be Ben does not make himself available for tutoring these guys. I'm sure Ben is busy re-habbing or sitting down at Golden Buffett...

Ben is on IR and he's allowed to be with the team but he made the comments before his job isn't to teach the younger QBs. I didn't see him on the sideline coaching up Hodges this past game, but I might have missed it. I saw Duck on the bench with Rudolph and Fichtner a couple times, but no Ben.

 

Hey Turtle.

Yeah, I do not know what to make of it. "Different strokes for different folks" as they say. If it is true then it sounds somewhat selfish. I know me personally, I have always embraced the new teachers and made myself accessible to them regarding what I could do to help them. In the end though, they do have to stand on their own two feet. Maybe that is what Ben is thinking and wants them to figure things out on their own? Just speculation. Still, even that sounds selfish as I am typing this.

I do not think Ben is that insecure that he would not help these guys with "His Job". From my optics, I do not see Ben having to worry about that. However though, he did replace Tommy Maddox due to Maddox getting hurt. Maybe he feels that is going to happen to him? You just never know how people operate mentally in these situations.

STEELWINDS AKA The East Side Kid

 

Two guys the got drafted. One 3rd overall, the other in the 2nd round.

 

A 38 year old QB, coming off season ending throwing arm surgery, with a $20MM cap hit, is very, very likely to be insecure if a young fair haired rival shows up that the team takes a shine to. And for good reason , because his job is insecure.

Look, I don't think Duck has a hope in hell of displacing Ben. But if it looks like a real possibility, Ben won't be much help to Hodges.

 

I’d feel pretty low if my team was paying me umpteen millions this year and I wasn’t lifting a finger to help out.

 

Hey AFan.

Good points. I just don't know if I am fully buying the "insecure" thing. Maybe. The money now, that may be a driving factor. 20 million is a lot of coin. Well, barring any major health setbacks, I really think Ben returns to reclaim his job. Take care my friend.

STEELWINDS AKA The East Side Kid

 

Bens cap hit next year is 33.5m, 25m if they trade him before June 1st, 12.5m if traded after June 1st (balance in 2021) not that I think there is any realistic chance that is happening. Nobody is trading for him coming off that injury with that cap hit, too risky and if it goes wrong you look totally foolish. Flip that around and if the Steelers trade him and he balls out somewhere else they’ll look totally foolish.

They should keep Hodges and Rudolph around until they draft the next guy in either 2021 or 2022. Maybe one of them steps up and grabs the job by the hands before that, who knows at this point.

Duck has not let anybody down to date but the book is still very much to be written. I can see a bad performance in him before the end of the season with a L and 3-4 TO’s and next thing the fans are on his back. That would not surprise me at all. I do like his moxy though, and he is just a bit more likeable than MR overall

 

Ben has never been a cerebral Qb. He extends plays and has a strong accurate arm. At start of his career, he had Hines, who had a knack to get open and make tough catches, and later on he had Antonio. That drive in SB was just Ben throwing to Santonio. who told Ben to ‘just get the ball to me.’ Belichek took his favorite target away from him and Ben struggled. My point is that Ben doesn’t have any poignant words of wisdom for the new qb’s. He can’t tell them to be big like him extend plays and sooner or later someone will get open.

 

I believe duck is closer to a Ben than mr is. Mason is a film watcher, cerebral type, pocket passer. Duck has that gun slingger mentality similar to ben. It's not taught or altered by another qb or coach. Let the kid be himself. Ben isn't his teacher, nor do I want him to be. He fits our line. He fits our offense that has been built around Ben and his style. Mason not so much. Although I like mason I'm not sure he's a good fit yet. I say yet because that all could change when the current line finally retires and that may not be long after ben. At that time mason may fit and Duck could be the odd man out of again the other way around.

 

Trade him for Josh Dobbs!