The Steelers look to be in a precarious quarterback situation and I think Desmond Ridder could be the guy to fix the problem.
The Steelers are in trouble with Ben Roethlisberger on the decline. In 2021, he has been full of injuries and his production on the field has not been good. The dropoff in production is a big reason the Steelers are 1-3.
The Steelers have some young options on their team, but none of them seem ripe for the job long-term. Mason Rudolph has been good at times, but I don’t see him as a Super Bowl-worthy QB. Dwayne Haskins has been better with the Steelers but I’m not ready to hand him the keys to Heinz Field either. Josh Dobbs can flash but his value is more depth.
The Steelers will need to go outside of the organization to fix the QB problem in Pittsburgh, a problem they have not had in over a decade because of the longevity of Ben Roethlisberger.
One rumor that I am hearing is Aaron Rodgers. Colin Cowherd seems to think this is a real possibility:
Aaron Rodgers — Future Pittsburgh Steeler?
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) October 6, 2021
"He's way too smart to just throw it out there. He wants people to know he likes Mike Tomlin." — @ColinCowherd pic.twitter.com/eLGgjZONpE
Along with being a very talented speaker, Colin Cowherd makes the point that Aaron Rodgers is too smart to not flirt with the idea of being Mike Tomlin’s quarterback. It is clear that Aaron would be happy to go to Pittsburgh and the Steelers would be stupid not to want to bring A-Rod to the Burgh.
Forget what he would do on the field, one of the top five quarterbacks to ever put on on a football helmet coming to Pittsburgh to rescue the Steelers from the Big Ben era? Yeah, people would love that.
Here’s what one fan thinks of the Steelers in 2021:
To me, there are many problems. But I think that the biggest issue is the offense. Mainly the chemistry between the QB and the OC. Those two have to be in sync and they're just not, which leads to the rest of the team trying too hard to make plays.
— Bernard Oliver (@boliver36) October 7, 2021
You can’t really put all the blame for fans being down on the Steelers on Matt Canada when you have a 39-year-old quarterback who has a 78.9 QB rating according to ESPN. I will be the first to say that Ben is the greatest Steelers quarterback in their franchise’s history (even better than the great Terry Bradshaw) but he is done and there would be nothing that would electrify the fan base more than bringing in Aaron Rodgers who is still a prime quarterback.
I still think that they need to hold on to that first-round pick in 2022 and get Desmond Ritter. Even if you are able to get Rodgers in the offseason, you still need a QB of the future. Rittler is the whole package as a person and as a player. He has strong confidence and has been a winner in college.
He has lead a non-power five conference quarterback to a 34-5 career record and just posted the program’s biggest win over Notre Dame in South Bend. Winning in college matters and it matters how a quarterback leads a team. He has plenty of starting experience and you can tell he is respected by his team and his Head Coach Luke Fickell who will be in the conversation for an NFL Head Coaching job as long as the team doesn’t fall apart.
There is an elephant in the room. It is his accuracy and that is not something I am going to scoff at. His career records show an efficiency that is more in the 50-60% range. That isn’t something that I like about him, but maybe a reason that the Steelers don’t have to be the worst team in 2021 to get him.
One thing that I want to point out is that Josh Allen had those level of completion percentages in college at Wyoming and those numbers even went back to high school with Josh Allen. Now Josh Allen is a top 5 QB in the league and is the reason for the Buffalo Bill’s success.
The Steelers can fix Ritter’s accuracy and his throwing mechanics, but he will already bring maturity in terms of pocket awareness, leadership, and just a firebrand throwing style that will not baby it to any receiver. He has the arm strength and he has the tools to work with to sit behind Rodgers and develop into another franchise quarterback for your Pittsburgh Steelers.