At some point, I do not know when, the Steelers might have to sacrifice wins in order to develop a quarterback.
You’d think that time would be now.
They haven’t come close to winning a playoff game since the 2016 season. They have run through quarterbacks like socks since Ben Roethlisberger retired. They’re waiting on a 42-year-old starter who hasn’t won a playoff game since 2020 and was last seen in tatters on the Acrisure Stadium lawn. They just hired a coach in large part because of his reputation for developing quarterbacks, and they have two young quarterbacks a lot of people seem to like.
So why not now?
Why not call a timeout here and prioritize the task of finding somebody to man the most important position in sports for the next 10 years?
Well, apparently the obsession with winning a single playoff game one of these decades takes precedent.
The Steelers actually did call timeout a few years ago to give Kenny Pickett a shot. They quickly found out he wasn’t the guy. OK, so move on. No need to be traumatized. You loved and lost. Learn to love again.
And here’s the thing: The Steelers and plenty of others have professed their love for Drew Allar and Will Howard.
Allar was just drafted in the third round, 76th overall. The Steelers think they got a steal. So do plenty of others. I’m not sure I’d trust Brady Quinn on quarterback development issues, but he thinks Allar has Big Ben-type potential.
Howard, a sixth-round pick from last year, has gained a cult following. I recently queried the public on who they want quarterbacking the Steelers this season, with four likely candidates, and among the thousand people who responded on “X,” Howard won by a landslide.
You would like the Steelers starting QB for the majority of this season to be …
— Joe Starkey (@JoeStarkey1) May 5, 2026
Coach Mike McCarthy recently said Howard will “definitely be a starter in this league,” which would put Howard in rare company among sixth-round quarterbacks.
Yet it appears the Steelers will go with two quarterbacks who are a combined 73 years old — Aaron Rodgers with 30-year-old journeyman Mason Rudolph as his backup.
To which I ask: How is anybody — even the Guru of Greenfield — supposed to properly evaluate the two young quarterbacks before the 2027 draft hits?
It seems to me that unless the Rodgers thing falls apart or the Steelers jettison Rudolph, that would be impossible. I’m guessing McCarthy will want a veteran behind Rodgers in case of injury. Does he really want to throw Allar or Howard into a game in, say, Baltimore in Week 4 if Rodgers goes down?
As former Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch said on 93.7 The Fan on Thursday, the current CBA rules regarding a shortened offseason favor veteran quarterbacks like Rudolph. There is simply not enough offseason practice time and reps to allow for younger quarterbacks to learn a system and be thoroughly evaluated.
In fact, as Batch pointed out, Rudolph might be the guy standing in the way of the people’s favorite, Howard, who will surely wind up behind the coach’s chosen one, Allar.
“Unfortunately, the way this CBA is, it is impossible to get two young QBs ready,” Batch said. “I rarely use ‘impossible,’ but it is impossible in this particular situation. Why? Because the way the offseason program is, it really hinders your development.”
Batch was part of the CBA talks in 2010 and made the point that veteran quarterbacks would benefit greatly from the shortened offseason while younger quarterbacks battling for jobs would suffer. This is especially true with everybody but Rodgers (who played for McCarthy in Green Bay) learning a new system here.
As Batch put it, “This is why you’re waiting for a 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers, and that’s why there’s a market for Joe Flacco at 41 — because these coaches don’t have the opportunity to say, ‘I have time to wait on a young quarterback.’ “
That leaves the silly exhibition games (remember Pickett looking like Joe Montana?) as the main measuring stick for the young guys. And that isn’t enough. Come July 22, the opening of training camp, the focus will be on winning games this season. Period. That is where the quarterback reps will be directed.
The third- and fourth-string quarterbacks will be buried. The fourth-string guy (likely Howard in this case) might not even make the team. And the Steelers will likely finish 10-8.
Shall we add a first-round quarterback to the mix and do this again next year?