by Bo Marchionte
Terry Bradshaw to Ben Roethlisberger to?
Ozzie Newsome made a big splash in his final draft as General Manager of the Ravens. Newsome moved back into the first round to select quarterback Lamar Jackson, leaving the franchise in a position to win for years to come.
The Steelers Kevin Colbert finds himself in the same scenario with plans to retire after the team drafts in late April. Colbert dismissed the notion at the NFL Scouting Combine that Pittsburgh will purposely make such a move due to the current situation at quarterback.
“We will never narrow it down to one position, never have, never will,” said Colbert regarding if Pittsburgh will invest in the best available not on a perceived quarterback savior for the franchise. “Quarterback is obviously a huge position in any given season, especially this year with our hall of fame quarterback calling it a career. So, is it different this year? Yes. But is it going to change how we approach things? No.”
We recently witnessed Aaron Rodgers resigning with the Green Bay Packers and the Denver Broncos blockbuster deal to acquire Russell Wilson off the Seattle Seahawks. The potential landing spot of Deshaun Watson remains one of the hottest topics in all of sports.
Pittsburgh announced Monday at the onset of the tampering period in free agency they came to an agreement with the second overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft Mitchell Trubisky. According to Tom Peliserro of the NFL Network it’s a two-year, $14.25 million deal that’s worth up to $27 million with incentives, per source.
Not exactly the barn burning deal many Pittsburgh fans wanted to see when witnessing the high-profile carousel of quarterbacks on the move in the National Football League. Many few this as a bridge to the next quarterback Pittsburgh invests in as the franchise signal-caller.
The incumbent Mason Rudolph has shown little to zero hope he can lead this franchise after being selected in the 76th overall selection in the 2018 NFL Draft. Rudolph spent time behind two-time Super Bowl winning quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and his retirement has left the door open for Rudolph to cease the moment.
However, the signing of Trubisky signals Pittsburgh as everyone already knew is not enamored with the idea of Rudolph being the top option under center. Laughed out of Chicago, Trubisky a former 2018 Pro Bowl selection does not exactly ease the minds of most who support the Steelers. Rudolph will now have serious competition when camp opens later this summer.
“You know, Mason is 5-4-1 as an NFL starter, albeit in a backup kind of role, but we’re excited to see what is next for Mason,” said Colbert. “And if we add to that position, we’re going to look at every possible avenue, as we really do for every other position, but again, a quarterback is unique.”
Wise with his words, Colbert divulges nothing when referring in what direction the Steelers will take in looking for the predecessor of Roethlisberger.
Drafted in 2004, Roethlisberger led the Steelers in passing every single season except in 2019 when he injured his elbow in Week 2 and missed 14 games. The magic of finding a franchise quarterback resonates for years and without one the search is endless with countless losses of draft capital.
The franchises only two winning Super Bowl quarterbacks Terry Bradshaw and Roethlisberger led the team in passing in 29 of the 32 combined years they played for the franchise. That is an amazing 90%! The gap between Bradshaw to Roethlisberger saw seven different quarterbacks lead to team in passing over the duration of 21 years at quarterback before Roethlisberger would solidify the position back in 2004 as the 11th overall pick in the NFL Draft.
It took over two decades for Pittsburgh to find the prospect via the NFL Draft that would erase mediocre play and raise the bar of quarterback play to a Hall of Fame level in Pittsburgh under Roethlisberger reign.
Now Pittsburgh finds itself as the crossroads once again.
“I think it’s a quality class,” said Colbert of the 2022 NFL Draft class of signal-callers. “It might not be the number of players at that position that there have been in the past but it’s certainly good quality and there’s going to be starting NFL quarterbacks coming out of this class for sure.”
Will Pittsburgh’s next starter be amongst this group?
“Inaccuracy,” was the word used by Colbert in describing the biggest deterrent when evaluating rookie prospects. “I think if you study quarterbacks over history, accuracy at the collegiate level is usually a great indicator of accuracy at the professional level albeit at in a different game.
“A lot of the college game is leaking into our game so there’s more similarities than there have been in recent years. But I think that’s the one trait of a quarterback—again they’re all going to be different sizes, they’re all going to have different arm talent, they’re all going to have different athletic abilities. But if you ask me one thing that I think can identify a potentially tough quarterback it would be accuracy.”
Colbert took over as Director of Player Personnel in 2000 and has been at the helm for the selection of seven quarterbacks. Four years into the process he landed Roethlisberger making the next 19 seasons pretty much an afterthought on his predecessor.
Now he is under the gun to deliver the franchise another quarterback before he exits stage left of his NFL executive career.
Pittsburgh sits at 20th overall in the up-coming draft.
Although the census among most is that the quarterbacks lack true grades that exceed the top-15 prospects, it is likely due to the nature of the beast, teams will bypass grades and pull the trigger earlier on the league’s most valued position.
The intriguing part about this quarterback class the wide variety of views of who is the top prospects at the quarterback position. Some look at Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett as the most pro ready quarterback. Others view Malik Willis out of Liberty to be the guy with the most upside to become an elite player.
Cincinnati’s Desmond Ridder is the ultimate leader but lacks the physical attributes many teams desire in a first-round prospect. Matt Corral is the dynamic dual-threat coming off an ankle injury suffered in the Sugar Bowl who some consider the top prospect. Then Sam Howell out of North Carolina is the scrappy prospect that just finds a way to get the job done.
The brief observation of the top rookie quarterbacks leads me to believe Pittsburgh will either take the first quarterback off the board in round one or elect to take another flyer on a quarterback at the end of day two of the NFL Draft in the third round.
Seven quarterbacks have been drafted with Colbert has been at the helm. Rounds four and five are the hotspots where Pittsburgh rolls the dice on quarterbacks. Five of the seven quarterbacks drafted with Colbert as boss have come between rounds four and five.
Colbert held true in the Steelers identity of no mind-blowing transactions taking place after one of the wildest weeks of quarterback maneuvers we’ve witnessed ever in the NFL, and we still got Jimmy Garoppolo set to traded eventually.
Remember it took over two decades to bridge the gap between Bradshaw to Roethlisberger.
Only time will tell how quickly the construction of the next bridge will pan out.
Photo Credit Frank Hyatt