3 reasons why Rudolph must be the Steelers QB in 2024 (and 1 reason he shouldn't be)

Steelers don’t have their guy in Pickett

In a similar vein, while Rudolph isn’t a great quarterback by any means, he at least fits what this offense wants to do. As I stated before, the offense was built in the offseason to not have to rely on the quarterback. Even then, Pickett was still miserable for this team. Rudolph could at least function as an average starter.

There are a lot of people still defending Pickett and claiming that he is the quarterback of the future. I don’t see it. While people are quick to point out Matt Canada as a hindrance, there is certainly an issue with the actual play of Pickett. I can’t recall a quarterback playing as poorly as Pickett has only to suddenly turn it around and be a star.

While it is hard to compare the two statistically, I would give the nod to Rudolph. If you extrapolate his average out to 12 starts like Pickett had, Rudolph was the better producer. All you have to do is watch the highlight reels of either quarterback to see that Rudolph was the better player.

Now let's look leaguewide. Pickett threw for fewer yards than the likes of Mac Jones, Zach Wilson, Aidan O’Connell, and Joshua Dobbs. He threw fewer touchdowns than those aforementioned names as well as the likes of Deshaun Watson, Joe Flacco, Tommy DeVito, and Nick Mullins. For most of these backups, they played in fewer games than Pickett did.

While Pickett could look better with a new coordinator, I can’t foresee a player starting off their career this poorly only to rebound and become a star. Rudolph may not be a great solution long-term, but Pickett clearly isn’t the guy. His play speaks for itself, and it hasn’t been good.