The Pittsburgh Steelers missed out on the postseason in 2019 while the heralded AFC North franchise will enter the upcoming 2020 campaign playing its football in one of the tougher divisions in the entire league. If the Steelers are going to turn things around en route to reverting back to the team's winning ways in 2020, Pittsburgh is most definitely going to need some strong play under center from franchise quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
However, Roethlisberger is coming off an injury-plagued season from a year ago, one that pretty much ended the Steelers' season as Pittsburgh just simply couldn't recover from such a huge loss in the end. When healthy, Roethlisberger is one of the better signal callers in the entire league, even at his age and after being in the league for so long. With that in mind, there is unfortunately no guarantee that Roethlisberger will remain healthy throughout the entire season in 2020, which makes having a backup quarterback behind “Big Ben” very important moving forward.
As it stands today, the Steelers do not have a quarterback that can ultimately lead the team to the postseason in the potential absence of Roethlisberger. With Mason Rudolph once again slated to enter the year as the Steelers' primary back-up quarterback, his efforts from 2019 proved that he is not the man for the job as Pittsburgh was unable to reach the playoffs under his direction. In addition to Rudolph, the Steelers also employ both Devlin Hodges and Paxton Lynch, each of whom has shown that they are not NFL-caliber signal callers.
With less than one month left until the start of the 2020 regular season, Pittsburgh must act fast if the team is going to secure a legitimate backup quarterback to spell Roethlisberger.
There are a few places in which the Steelers can look, though it might cost the team a bit more than it should to acquire a veteran quarterback to serve as a backup due to the fact that the regular season is currently looming large. With the New England Patriots presently employing a trio of quarterbacks in Cam Newton, Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer, perhaps the last of the three could be made available for the right price. Staying in the AFC, perhaps the Indianapolis Colts would be willing to part ways with Jacoby Brissett, who will now back-up longtime Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers.
Although neither Hoyer nor Brissett are nearly as formidable as Roethlisberger, both are an significant upgrade over the aforementioned Rudolph and could plug the hole to stop the bleeding for a few weeks if “Big Ben” were to go down again. It is worth noting, though, that if Roethlisberger were to go down early on in the season, the Steelers wouldn't be in good position to succeed regardless of who is under center.
If Roethlisberger were to encounter an injury later in the season, obviously Pittsburgh wouldn't be primed for a lengthy postseason run. But the AFC North franchise could potentially reach the playoffs as the Steelers do have a well-rounded roster at the moment.
Entering the 2020 campaign, the Steelers seem to have solidified just about every skill position on offense while adding a veteran at the tight end position and getting healthy all over the field.
In addition to Roethlisberger returning to the fold after spending the majority of last season on the sidelines, the team will also welcome back a healthy JuJu Smith-Schuster at wide receiver alongside a healthier James Conner in the backfield as the team's starting running back.
With the tight end position lacking a bit, the Steelers notably picked up former Detroit Lions and Indianapolis Colts tight end Eric Ebron, who can make a massive impact on the offense — especially as an emergency option over the middle for Roethlisberger. If Ebron can get open, Roethlisberger can potentially avoid added pressure from the opposition while taking less hits is obviously ideal for any quarterback let alone an aging one.
Even though every team wants their starting quarterback to remain upright and healthy for as long as possible, the Steelers will be forced to compete against the surging Baltimore Ravens, up-and-coming Cleveland Browns and new-look Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC North division. Which means they'll probably become one of the more physical and talented groups in the entire NFL.
Because of the presence of this trio of opponents, which will make up six of the Steelers' 16 regular season games in 2020, Pittsburgh cannot afford to give up any games as one slip up could cost the team their season.
Follow Us
Subscribe