Ben Roethlisberger ruining Steelers future on way out the door

Ben Roethlisberger gave a vote of confidence to his potential replacement in backup quarterback Mason Rudolph. That’s not a good thing for the Steelers.

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger got his memorable Heinz Field sendoff. Roethlisberger’s Steelers defeated the Cleveland Browns in a memorable night on the North Shore. It’s likely the best moment of the Steelers season, given they’re unlikely to make the playoffs barring a win and loss by the Indianapolis Colts to the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars.

With that moment now behind them, the Steelers can finish out their season against the Baltimore Ravens and focus on what the future holds. For now, that is uncertainty.

While Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert will surely have his own opinion, Roethlisberger stated that he believes in backup quarterback Mason Rudolph.

Steelers: Ben Roethlisberger believes in Mason Rudolph

“He works really hard. He’s smart. He understands what’s going on,” Roethlisberger said, via Mark Kaboly of The Athletic. “I think that it’s just the repetitions — I mean, he got a lot of reps in whatever it was I didn’t play much, however many years ago that was. I know he and ’Duck’ [Devlin Hodges] kind of did some splitting time. But I think this offseason probably knowing that there’s going to be a competition for it, I think that’ll be good for him.”

While Roethlisberger’s opinion holds some weight given he sees Rudolph in practice, we’ve frankly seen this movie before.

Rudolph got plenty of playing time in Roethlisberger’s injury-shortened 2019 season. He also started the Steelers game against the Lions this season, in which Pittsburgh and Detroit tied. It’s arguably the embarrassment of the Steelers’ season so far.

If Pittsburgh goes into next season with Rudolph as QB1, it’ll be because they couldn’t land a better option via trade or free agency, and don’t believe in any of the top quarterbacks in this year’s draft class, which includes Pitt product Kenny Pickett.

Believing in Rudolph, however, is not a viable option at this time.