3 thresholds Pittsburgh Steelers next franchise quarterback must meet

The Steelers need a franchise quarterback who can really compete with the best in the business after Ben Roethlisberger. Here are three thresholds he must meet. 

I hear too many fans that are all in favor of Mason Rudolph or Dwayne Haskins taking over the reins once Ben Roethlisberger is done. We all know that Big Ben is on his last legs and that he’s likely to hang it up after the 2021 season, but settling for a quarterback that doesn’t have the necessary traits to succeed could prove to be disastrous.

While Rudolph and Haskins have both had their moments in the NFL (albeit very brief), neither quarterback meets the thresholds I would hope the Pittsburgh Steelers would be looking for in their next franchise quarterback. Today’s NFL is very different than it was even just a decade ago. Here are three thresholds that the next Steelers franchise quarterback must meet:

Ability to extend the play

For some teams, it’s an added bonus to draft a quarterback who can routinely move around the framework and extend the play. For me, it’s a necessity. Gone are the days when NFL teams can get away with having the Joe Flacco’s and Eli Manning’s of the world without feeling the repercussions.

If you look at all of the top quarterbacks currently in the league, nearly every one of them has an impressive ability to extend plays. This could mean simply buying extra time in the pocket with shiftiness and the ability to make a defender miss or rolling out and directing traffic down the field when things break down.

While not every quarterback who comes into the NFL Draft is going to be able to do this at a Patrick Mahomes-like level, the Steelers shouldn’t justify taking an immobile quarterback who has limited play-making ability (much like Mason Rudolph and Dwayne Haskins).