The Pittsburgh Steelers' quarterback question has been answered a little bit, but there is still one big thing that has not been answered yet: Will Aaron Rodgers actually sign with the Steelers, and if he does, when will it be? Mason Rudolph is back, and he is seen as a starting-caliber option if worse comes to worst with the debacle. The team also drafted Will Howard to at least develop into a quality backup for the next few years, but there is still the lingering Rodgers situation that makes everything feel wrong.
While hosting Kaboly + Mack, both Mark Kaboly and Chris Mack were shocked that so many people were writing off Rudolph as at least a decent starting option. Kaboly used that to take a jab at the quarterback's former team: the Tennessee Titans.
"It's crazy. Look at what [Rudolph] did at the Titans," Kaboly said. "You could have Tom Brady in his prime and he wouldn't have led those Titans to more than four wins last year, so you can't blame him for that."
Bringing up Tom Brady to talk about how bad the 2024 Titans really were is wild, but they did have the first overall pick in the 2025 draft for a reason. It didn't matter if they were starting Rudolph or Will Levis, they could not figure out how to play football well. They ended the season with a 3-14 record, including only one home win: an overtime victory against the New England Patriots, who had the fourth overall pick.
Rudolph started five of the eight games he played in for the Titans that year. In that time, he had a 1-4 record with nine touchdowns and nine interceptions. At very least, he took significantly fewer sacks than Levis, as the veteran had a 4.6 sack % as opposed to 11.99% from the young gun. Rudolph's averages were a little better than Levis' across the board outside of that, but it still wasn't a good season for either passer.
A lot of the Titans' struggles did stem from the offense, however. Levis was a turnover machine, and many of his giveaways were touchdowns. Rudolph was better in that department, but not by much, so there are still some issues that he needs to work through as well. Even if he wasn't the main reason for their losses, he didn't help much either.
What really didn't help was the downgrade at running back. For many years, Derrick Henry at least made the team respectable with his ability to run over any team and carry the offense on his back. Going from him to a mid-tier back at best in Tony Pollard hurt the team more than anyone could've imagined, and that unit had no one to truly rely on anymore.
Steelers Were Much Worse Than Titans In One Category Back In 2024
Kaboly's argument has one fatal flaw to it: the Titans' defense was actually the best in the AFC, and second in the NFL behind the eventual Super Bowl champions, the Philadelphia Eagles. While they do need a lot more help offensively, the defense pulled its weight throughout the season. Brady in his prime likely would have found a way to make it work with that kind of help.
Meanwhile, the Steelers were 12th in the NFL in defense. The unit after the bye week was absolutely abysmal, and it was the primary reason of their downfall, the five-game losing streak, and getting annihilated in the Wild Card Round. Rudolph may be going to a team with more talent, but there is still a significant drop-off in how well the defense played from Tennessee to Pittsburgh.
In the end, insulting the Titans to the level of being unable to do anything with prime Brady is too far. Even then, Rudolph should still do better with the Steelers, as they are built to suit his strengths. He is a great deep-ball quarterback, and he will have a pair of high-end go-route receivers to throw to. He is still going into a better situation, and hopefully, he will thrive like he did at the end of 2023.
