It will probably take some time to get used to, but Ben Roethlisberger won't start for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2022 NFL season. The veteran quarterback has officially hung up his cleats and therefore left a huge spot up for grabs.
18 years later, the Steelers have to begin the process of finding who will be the next starting quarterback, hoping to discover a franchise player sooner rather than later. And it will probably not be easy for anyone to fill in Big Ben's shoes.
But Pittsburgh will have time to worry about that as the free agency and the 2022 Draft are still on the horizon. In the meantime, the Steelers have two players at quarterback, Mason Rudolph and Dwayne Haskins - if the team tender him.
Steelers' QB plans post-Ben Roethlisberger, revealed
“If we started a season today, Mason [Rudolph] would be our starter,” Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert said on Monday, per Brooke Pryor of ESPN. “He’s 5-4-1 as a starter. We’re excited to see what’s next for Mason.”
However, it's important to note that Colbert said Rudolph would start if the season began today. But that's certainly not the case and the Steelers know they have an entire offseason to consider their options, with many interesting alternatives expected to be on the market. So, Rudolph will probably face a lot of competition to win the job.
“We know we’re going to add to the position,” Colbert said. “I can’t tell you how at this point. We will go to camp with four. If we had to start today with Mason as our starter, let’s go. We’ll try to build the best team around him.”
Mason Rudolph NFL stats with the Pittsburgh Steelers
Rudolph has only started 10 games in the NFL since he was drafted in the third round of the 2018 Draft. Due to Roethlisberger's elbow injury, Rudolph started on eight occasions in 2019. He threw for 1,765 yards, 13 touchdowns and nine interceptions that year, leading the team to a 5-3 record with him as starter.
Having started one game in 2020 and another in 2021, Rudolph has 2,366 yards, 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions overall in 17 games in Pittsburgh. It remains to be seen if he ultimately gets the job, as more experienced quarterbacks might become available this offseason.
