Training camp for the Pittsburgh Steelers is approaching quickly, and the team has many questions that need to be answered. One of the biggest is how their quarterback room will shake out. While Aaron Rodgers is their starter, it’s unclear who will back him up.
Mason Rudolph is the other veteran, but the Steelers spent a 2026 third-round pick on Drew Allar, and they’re also high on Will Howard, despite his inexperience. Some people think they could keep four quarterbacks on their 53-man roster, but Charlie Batch shut that idea down.
“Are the Steelers going to keep four quarterbacks this year?” Batch asked on Wednesday on his Snap Count podcast. “No, they’re not. I don’t care what people say. It’s an easy conversation to have. Why would you have three roster spots that are occupied for people who may not play in the game? A coach is not going to do that…
“There’s not enough practice time for your two young guys to develop. They’re just there watching practice… It’s not happening. Four quarterbacks are not happening. You cannot do it in this day and age.”
The argument for the Steelers keeping four signal callers is that they can’t walk into this season without an experienced backup behind Rodgers. They want to compete for a Super Bowl, but if Rodgers misses any time, it’s unclear whether Howard or Allar can keep the ship afloat.
However, the Steelers’ ceiling likely falls just as far with Rudolph as it would with Howard or Allar. If the Steelers were confident enough in any of them as starters, then they wouldn’t have signed Rodgers.
Also, it wouldn’t be the first time that the Steelers left two inexperienced backups behind their veteran starter. They had Ben Roethlisberger starting in 2018, and they chose to have Josh Dobbs and Rudolph as his backups, parting ways with Landry Jones. Dobbs was going into his second NFL season, having been selected by Pittsburgh in the fourth round in 2017. Meanwhile, Rudolph was a third-round rookie.
That’s very similar to the Steelers’ current situation. They’ve got an inexperienced second-year player in Howard, a third-round rookie in Allar, and a veteran in Rudolph.
Mike McCarthy hasn’t ruled out the Steelers keeping all four quarterbacks. However, as Batch explains, that wouldn’t make much sense. McCarthy and Omar Khan have had a lot of good things to say about Howard, and it’s unlikely that they’ll cut a rookie third-round pick.
Rudolph has also received praise, but he could be the odd man out because he doesn’t have as much potential as Howard. A report during the draft indicated that the Steelers were open to trading Rudolph, which doesn’t bode well for his chances, either. No matter what, though, it will probably take a lot for the Steelers to keep Rodgers, Howard, Allar, and Rudolph on their 53-man roster.