5 Steelers who need a dominant training camp to survive

Steelers Rudolph

There may not be a Steelers player on the roster who has seen his stock take a bigger hit this offseason than Mason Rudolph. He signed an extension last year, seemingly putting him in a position to compete to be Ben Roethlisberger’s replacement. The team then turned around and brought in three new quarterbacks to compete with Rudolph, and he is clearly the lesser of two of those names.

The Steelers made an early splash and signed Mitchell Trubisky to be their transitional quarterback. During the draft, the team landed Kenny Pickett in the first round. Considering Pickett is relatively pro-ready, that leaves Rudolph as the third quarterback on the roster. At his salary, it seems unlikely that he is kept in that role. That was made even more apparent when the team selected a second quarterback at the end of the draft.

While Rudolph could still wind up making the roster, the odds seem long right now. Had the team drafted more of a developmental name instead of Pickett, then the argument would have been clearer. Now, Rudolph is the clear third-best option in a room with two names that should be more likely to stick with the team long term. He needs to make himself uncuttable during camp, as the odds are stacked against him.

The Steelers roster is likely set heading into camp, but these five players will be fighting for a lot once the team comes together. Each of these five names will need to be playing at an elite level if they don’t want to lose out on their roster spot. Keep them in mind as the team tries to sort out their final roster.