While some NFL sides have more-or-less sorted their quarterback room for the upcoming season, Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers have a different struggle: They don’t have a QB1 at all. At least, not a real, definitive starter.
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The Steelers’ quarterback depth chart consists of a solitary signal caller — Mason Rudolph. And he has done nothing notable in his NFL career, managing just 28 TDs and 20 Interceptions in five seasons. Well, what about Aaron Rodgers?
The four-time MVP reportedly took part in a throwing session with DK Metcalf recently. Rodgers, however, is still busy contemplating his NFL future, taking his own sweet time for it. So, when Tomlin took the podium at the NFL Annual League Meeting, he had to do what head coaches do best — spin the situation like everything’s fine. And boy did he sweat while doing it. Literally.
The 53-year-old was drenched as he spoke to the media, wiping his forehead repeatedly and looking like he just ran the Oklahoma drill in full pads. Many couldn’t help but notice. It definitely did not escape the discerning eyes of Nightcap hosts Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson.
Sharpe, in classic Unc fashion, roasted Tomlin for struggling through the presser. He said that the Steelers HC’s sweat reflected his team’s QB woes.
“Don’t you see how he [is] sweating? He like, ‘We ain’t got no quarterback’.” said Sharpe jokingly, while his co-host presented a different critique.
For Johsnon, Tomlin was saying what needed to be said, even if everyone knew it wasn’t the truth.
“He sound[s] like a politician,” Chad said. “Yeah, everything he said sounds good, it sounds beautiful, but in order to compete in this league — regardless of what team you are — you need a quarterback.”
What irked Unc the most was Tomlin trying to sell Rudolph as a viable starter. “That’s why we brought him back. I’m comfortable with that. We’ve been there before. He’s very capable,” the head coach had stated.
Sharpe couldn’t understand why Tomlin & Co. let Rudolph leave in 2023 in the first place. “If you think about what he said — what did he say? ‘Oh, we brought him back’. Why the hell did you let him go, then?” Asked the Broncos legend.
And that’s the real issue. If the Steelers were truly comfortable with Rudolph, he wouldn’t have left in the first place. If they believed in him, they wouldn’t still be linked to Rodgers or any other potential veteran QB option.
Ocho summed up the Steelers HC’s presser in one breath: “Now we got Mike Tomlin giving us a lie. Don’t tell me the beautiful lie — tell me the truth. We don’t have a quarterback right now.”
It’s one thing to stand in front of the media and put on a brave face. It’s another thing entirely to do it while knowing your options under center are, at best, uninspiring.
Tomlin can say all the right things, but as Chad said, in order to compete in the AFC North and to get back to the historic run that the Steelers are known for [read winning championships], they need “a goddamn quarterback”. Period.
Until then? Expect more sweat-laced pressers in Pittsburgh.
