The Pittsburgh Steelers are now down to one quarterback after it was reported by ESPN's Adam Schefter on Monday morning that Ben Roethlisberger will miss the rest of the season due to an elbow injury that will require surgery.
The Steelers traded backup quarterback Josh Dobbs to the Jacksonville Jaguars last week, leaving Mason Rudolph as the only remaining signal-caller on Pittsburgh's roster.
Obviously, the Steelers are going to need another quarterback, and if there were ever a time to give Colin Kaepernick a chance, it's now.
Pittsburgh would not even necessarily have to start Kaepernick, as it did draft Rudolph in the third round last year and appears to have high hopes for him moving forward.
The Steelers could keep Rudolph as the starter and sign Kaepernick as a reserve in case Rudolph gets hurt or simply stinks up the joint.
While Kaepernick is far from being an elite quarterback, he at least has some experience and took the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl back during the 2012-13 campaign.
He is also mobile, which is a quality that is becoming more and more important for quarterbacks in today's game.
Kaepernick has been out of the NFL since 2016 and is generally regarded as one of the most controversial figures in sports due to his protests concerning the national anthem.
Putting all of that aside, Kaepernick is certainly a better option for the Steelers than Devlin Hodges, whom Schefter says the Steelers seem likely to sign off of the practice squad to back up Rudolph.
Pittsburgh's season is probably already over, as the Steelers are now 0-2 and will be without Roethlisberger for the remainder of the year, but they still need to have some competency at quarterback the rest of the way.
Again, turning the offense over to Rudolph is fine, as he may very well be Pittsburgh's quarterback of the future, and with Big Ben now being 37 years old, that future could come sooner rather than later.
But in a backup role? Kaepernick would be a perfect fit, especially considering the Steelers just traded away Dobbs.
I'm not sure there has been a better situation for Kaepernick since we last saw him in the Bay three years ago.
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