Steelers quarterback depth deemed biggest liability in 2020

The Steelers elected to ignore the backup quarterback situation this offseason. Here’s why that could be their biggest liability in 2020.

Many fans were shocked when general manager Kevin Colbert stated that he was ‘comfortable’ the Steelers backup quarterback situation. Despite an embarrassing 2019 by Mason Rudolph, he has already been labeled as Ben Roethlisberger’s backup heading into the 2020 sesaon.

However, despite Pittsburgh’s confidence in their young and mostly inexperienced quarterbacks, this is an area that raises major question marks on football media. Recently, Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox wrote an article regarding every NFL teams’ biggest liability heading into the 2020 sesaon. For the Steelers, it was their backup quarterback situation. Here’s what Knox had to say:

"The Pittsburgh Steelers had one of the league’s best defenses in 2019, one that ranked fifth in both points and yards allowed. But that defense won’t be making the playoffs if starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger suffers another significant injury. The 38-year-old missed all but two games last season with an elbow injury. Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges proved inefficient at quarterback, and the Steelers finished just 30th in total yardage and 27th in scoring. Rudolph, Hodges and former Broncos draft bust Paxton Lynch are Pittsburgh’s backups at quarterback—and that’s problematic. If they don’t add to the position and Big Ben goes down again—or fails to regain his Pro Bowl form—the Steelers could be looking at another lost season."

It’s not at all a surprise to see that Knox labeled Pittsburgh’s quarterback depth as their biggest liability heading into the season. Despite possessing one of the league’s best defenses in 2019, the Steelers thoroughly disappointed on the offensive side of the ball.

Shockingly, the Steelers were able to win 7 of 8 games from Week 6 to Week 14 despite averaging just 20.0 points per game – thanks to a stellar defensive unit. However, Devlin Hodges and Mason Rudolph completely fell apart in the last three weeks of the season. Though the Steelers needed to win at least one of their final three games to have a shot at the playoffs, Pittsburgh scored just 10.0 points per game to close out the sesaon and lost all three of their final games.

Ben Roethlisberger is set to return from a serious elbow injury in which it was confirmed that three tendons were torn from the bone. Though whichever Big Ben we get will prove to be better than the lackluster combination of Rudolph and Hodges, there’s no guarantee his health will last the sesaon, as he has played just 4 full seasons in 16 years.

Knowing this, the Steelers still did nothing this offseason to provide security to the quarterback situation. Though players like Jameis Winston and Cam Newton went for pennies on the dollar compared to the normal going rate of NFL passers, Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert had no interest in adding proven depth behind Roethlisberger.

Clearly, the success of the Steelers season in 2020 lives and dies with Ben Roethlisberger. But falsely trusting their disappointing backup quarterbacks in a year where the Steelers need to be successful is beyond me. Let’s hope Pittsburgh’s brass knows what they are doing here because the Steelers backup quarterback depth certainly seems like the biggest liability to the team.