Coming out of the 2025 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers have three quarterbacks on their roster in Mason Rudolph, Skylar Thompson and rookie sixth-round pick Will Howard. They are still waiting for a decision from 41-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers, whom they have been pursuing since mid-March.
There doesn’t appear to be an answer coming anytime soon, so for now the three quarterbacks on the roster is what the Steelers have to work with.
That has the Steelers with the worst quarterback room in the NFL.
At least, that’s how CBS Sports’ Garrett Podell views things.
In a piece for CBSSports.com Friday morning, Podell ranked the Steelers the worst QB room in the NFL, just ahead of the Indianapolis Colts at No. 2 and the Cleveland Browns at No. 3. Both of those teams made significant investments into their QB rooms this offseason with the Colts signing Daniel Jones to compete with Anthony Richardson, and the Browns trading for Kenny Pickett, signing Joe Flacco and drafting Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.
“The Pittsburgh Steelers have the worst quarterback room in the entire NFL after completely turning over at the position in each of the last two years,” Podell writes. “Mason Rudolph, a third-round pick of the Steelers in 2018, returns home after a year away with the Tennessee Titans in 2024. He threw nine touchdowns and nine interceptions across eight played last season, which included five starts.
“Skylar Thompson comes to the Steelers after three seasons as Tua Tagovailoa’s backup with the Miami Dolphins. He has one passing touchdowns and three interceptions in 10 games played, including three starts. The rookie in the room is Will Howard, a sixth-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft after helping lead Ohio State to a national championship in his fifth season of college football.”
On paper, those three names don’t make a great quarterback room. That’s not any new or groundbreaking information. While the Steelers have plenty of confidence in and comfort with Rudolph as their starter, should he need to be, they let him head to Tennessee for the 2024 season for a reason, changing out their quarterback room entirely.
Now he’s back, and on a cheap, team-friendly backup QB deal.
Thompson was added on a reserve/futures contract, so there’s not a ton invested in him, even with him having some NFL starting experience.
Howard is the piece everyone is seemingly happy to see in Pittsburgh. He can be that developmental quarterback for the Steelers and maybe even start some games down the line if all goes well.
In fact, Podell predicts that Howard will be the Week 1 starting quarterback for the Steelers, unless Aaron Rodgers signs.
What a turn of events that would be, and would go against everything being said about Rudolph to this point. But, I guess anything is possible in the league’s worst QB room.
Make no mistake though: this room won’t be the worst in the NFL assuming Rodgers signs. The Steelers still believe firmly that he is coming and will make a decision soon, and when he does he will give the Steelers’ group a boost, even if he’s at the end of his career.
Having Rodgers as the starter with Rudolph and Howard as the backups and possibly Thompson on the practice squad makes things look a heck of a lot better for the Black and Gold at the most important position in sports.
Josh Carney
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