Haskins and Rudolph Both Believe Their Future Resides in Pittsburgh, And That's a Good Thing
For many fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been the only face of the franchise under center for a majority of their fandom.
A team without a respectable quarterback is sure to fail, and failure has been avoided many times through the talents of Roethlisberger.
Take it from long-time fans of the Steelers, those who endured a post-Terry Bradshaw era that saw Pittsburgh struggle through the '80s and a myriad of quarterbacks prior to the eventual drafting of Roethlisberger. Not every team is able to pull off what the Green Bay Packers did, transitioning from one Hall of Fame quarterback (Brett Favre) to another (Aaron Rodgers).
The transition isn't seamless in an overwhelming majority of cases, and by the flashlight to the face around the campfire tone accompanied by stories of Mark Malone, Bubby Brister and more, it's clear a good portion of Steelers' fans don't truly know life after a Hall of Fame quarterback.
Alas, here we are. Roethlisberger will ready himself for his 18th season under center in Pittsburgh, with a possibility of 2021 being his last ride in black and gold.
It's an uncomfortable topic, especially considering how the Steelers finished their 2020 campaign with somber images of Roethlisberger pondering everything under the sun after Pittsburgh's opening round exit in the playoffs.
Yet a day will come where the people's quarterback can no longer play, and while discussing Big Ben's retirement may sometimes require tricky navigation, discussing his successor only leads to similar roads.
Mason Rudolph? Josh Dobbs? Dwayne Haskins? All notable quarterbacks behind Roethlisberger have their respective fan bases and supporters to strut the Steelers onto the field, whenever that time may come. While Dobbs may very well end up in a three-way competition to be the starter down the line, his track record of bouncing on and off the Steelers' roster suggests he may be a wildcard bet at best.
Thus, a two-man race to the top has formed:
Rudolph, drafted in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft, is the current favorite out of the aforementioned gun-slingers to be promoted to a starting position. Rudolph's short window of starting games was met with a rollercoaster of ups and downs in what emerged as an extremely forgettable 2019 season by nearly every player on the offensive side of the ball.
However, the Steelers have remained confident in Rudolph, most recently displayed by a recent contract extension. Rudolph is currently the only quarterback under contract through the 2022 season.
Haskins, acquired by Pittsburgh following his release from the Washington Football Team, has garnered a fair amount of support through his short time in Pittsburgh thus far. The Steelers successfully pulled a low-risk/high-reward signing by bringing in the former first-round pick, who just might have his best football ahead.
With both quarterbacks set to be at/under the age of 26 prior to the start of the season and minimal starting experience (neither has a full 16 combined games as a starter), the Steelers will welcome any positive molding either Rudolph or Haskins absorb.
While their talents can be debated and dissected, their goals in Pittsburgh cannot.
"My expectations here are to make everyone who decided to take a chance on me look good, and work as hard as I possibly can. Let my work speak for itself," Haskins said to media members last week. "Of course, I want to take over after Big Ben, but that comes with due time. Just doing everything I need to do on a day-to-day basis."
The comments, although not oozing with a feeling of superiority, drummed a lot of buzz on social media and in the locker room as well.
Haskins' comments come nearly two weeks following similar feelings of self-belief from Rudolph:
"That's my goal, to be a starting quarterback in this league and for our team, and I'm working toward that goal every single day," Rudolph told local media. "I can only control myself and the way I prepare and the way I approach and play in OTAs and camp, and that's on the forefront of my mind."
Of course, when presented in front of a microphone, you would fully expect both players in their respective positions to be confident. What else do you want them to say, right? Why should the Steelers believe in them if they're not capable of believing in themselves.
The reality of a post-Roethlisberger era is slowly creeping towards television screens, and there are two men currently in the locker room that look forward to calling first dibs on the depth chart. In the same media session mentioned above, Rudolph also touched on the final point of this piece:
"I think you're always excited and looking forward to competition," said Rudolph. "You know that it's going to be there each and every year, it's just a matter of who... Competition makes everybody better and you look forward to that, especially in the offseason."
Rudolph has his eyes set on being a starter in Pittsburgh? Fantastic.
Haskins also wants that opportunity? Phenomenal.
Competition is orchestrated to bring the best out in players, and for a Steelers team that will be looking to fill its biggest hole on the roster, that is a signal of good things to come.
This is not a promise that either Rudolph or Haskins will successfully step in and win football games from the jump. Rather, this is an acknowledgment that the Steelers simply aren't forced to roll with one possibility at the future of the quarterback position.
Is the quarterback of the future currently on the roster? The yearly NFL Draft lends college football's best talents to teams in dire need of various players and roles, and the Steelers may very well be in play to see a handful of interesting names available early in the draft. With a defense that's built to win now, Pittsburgh may also opt for a veteran presence in free agency in another attempt to keep their Super Bowl window as open as possible.
However, that cookie crumbles (and believe me, it will crumble), one thing is for certain: The responsibility of following in Roethlisberger's footsteps will not just merely fall into a raffle winner's hands. It will have to be earned through competition and likely rigorous media coverage/scrutiny the city of Pittsburgh hasn't seen in quite a while.
May the best man win.
Donnie Druin is a Deputy Editor with AllSteelers. Follow Donnie on Twitter @DonnieDruin, and AllSteelers @si_steelers.
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