Pittsburgh Steelers recently caught football world off guard when they selected Oklahoma State quarterback Mason Rudolph with the 76th overall pick in 2018 NFL Draft. That immediately raised questions about the future of their starting QB Ben Roethlisberger, and whether the organization intends to make Rudolph his heir.
Roethlisberger doesn’t have any problems with that, but doesn’t see it happening anytime soon since he plans on playing for “three to five more years.”
“Well, that’s fine. He can do that,” – Roethlisberger told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Tuesday when speaking about the possibility that Rudolph will take over as the Steelers starting quarterback. “But I plan on playing for three to five more years, depending on how the line goes and staying healthy if I can stay healthy.“
“If he’s going to be their guy, that’s great, but in my perfect world it’s not going to be for a while.” – he added.
According to the Steelers, the organization didn’t intend to draft a quarterback at all but couldn’t pass on the opportunity to take Mason Rudolph, believing he isn’t any worse than the QBs taken in the first round. Rudolph ended his senior season at Oklahoma State passing for 4,553 yards and 35 touchdowns.
If we are to believe the numbers, there are no reasons for the Steelers to make the quarterback transition anytime soon. Ben Roethlisberger ended 2017 with 4,251 passing yards, his fifth NFL season where he passed for more than 4,000 yards. The 36-year-old completed 360 out of 561 passes and had 28 touchdowns alongside 14 interceptions. In the AFC Divisional Round matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Roethlisberger faced the league’s top passing defense and still ended up with 469 passing yards and five touchdowns. Despite his monster game, Pittsburgh Steelers were eliminated, losing the game 42–45.
