We all know who the Pittsburgh Steelers’ starting quarterback will be this season, but the battle for the backup job may be training camp’s most anticipated competition. If Drew Allar’s roster spot is already secure, could it really come down to Will Howard or Mason Rudolph for one remaining quarterback spot? If so, local insider Mark Kaboly has bad news for Howard.
“I’m gonna call Mason a stone-cold lock to make the team,” Kaboly said via Steelers Collective on YouTube. “He might not get many reps in camp, and it’ll be like, ‘Mason’s in trouble, his job’s gonna be in jeopardy.’ I’m playing around a little bit, but I still think he’s gonna make the squad. Regardless of what happens, I believe he’s locked in.”
If Rudolph is a lock, that would leave just two avenues for Howard to make the team: one of the other quarterbacks lands on IR, or Pittsburgh breaks precedent and keeps four.
Mike McCarthy has flirted with the idea of keeping four, but he’s also never kept four quarterbacks throughout his career. He’s also talked about three being the ideal number to develop the room.
Howard received most of the QB2 reps throughout OTAs and minicamp. There’s no reason to think that will change for the start of training camp, but Kaboly’s contention is that it doesn’t matter.
There is some logic to the idea, especially with the Steelers being one of the highest spenders of both cash and cap space this year. They didn’t bring Aaron Rodgers back to transition the franchise, but rather to contend now with a very expensive roster. Would they really enter the season with zero combined starts between QB2 and QB3? Rudolph at least offers eight years and 19 starts worth of experience.
Kenny Pickett’s all-world preseason performance in 2023 taught us that the preseason doesn’t matter, or at least it isn’t an accurate indicator of regular season success.
“I got burned by Kenny Pickett. I don’t care what you did in preseason and training camp,” Kaboly said. “Once you get into the real games, things tend to change. So no matter what I see from him, I don’t think he should be the No. 2 this year. I think he could be the No. 1 next year. You’d have to keep him on the team though.”
It might be irresponsible to enter the season without any experience to back up a 43-year-old quarterback. But would it not also be irresponsible to let a player walk who could be the starter next year?
Howard has received too much praise this offseason by key decision makers in Pittsburgh to be discarded like that. McCarthy said he will “definitely” be a starter in the league one day.
I get Kaboly’s logic, but I certainly don’t get his confidence in the outcome.