The Pittsburgh Steelers have had a revolving door at quarterback the last few years. They haven’t had the same Week 1 starter in back-to-back years since Ben Roethlisberger retired. That will change if Aaron Rodgers re-signs with them, but he still isn’t a long-term solution. The Steelers could always draft a quarterback in the first round to start, too. Alabama’s Ty Simpson seems like the most likely candidate if they go that route. Analyst Kevin Clark wonders if the Steelers can bring both players in, though.
“[Drafting Simpson is] a better idea than running it back with Rodgers,” Clark said recently on ESPN Radio’s Freddie and Harry show. “You have a roster that can win now, you went all in on some aggressive moves, you’ve got a locker room that wants to win, and I think Aaron Rodgers has a really low ceiling at this point in his career.
“He gets the ball out quick, but he doesn’t have that athleticism. In a perfect world, maybe you do both, in the sense that, Ty Simpson, his fatal flaw is he did not play a lot of football. Maybe you get him into the building, get him into Latrobe and training camp, give him reps with the 1s… If Ty Simpson has to play in September, that might be an issue, so maybe he goes to a place with a veteran.”
The Steelers’ moves this offseason seem to indicate that they’re confident Rodgers will return. They’ve loaded up on veteran players, clearly not pivoting toward a rebuild. That makes it hard to envision them going into Week 1 with a rookie starting under center.
However, pairing Rodgers and Simpson could be the best of both worlds. Rodgers is 42 years old and has considered retiring for the past few offseasons. Also, he’s got a lot of experience in Mike McCarthy’s offense. No matter what reports about Rodgers say, he proved to be a good teammate and a reliable mentor last year.
McCarthy has seen the benefits of that kind of situation before, too. While he wasn’t with the Green Bay Packers when they drafted Rodgers, he still had Brett Favre as the starting quarterback for his first two years as their head coach. Having Rodgers sitting as the heir apparent likely took some weight off his shoulders.
Still, if the Steelers are serious about competing for a Super Bowl this year, then they might consider spending their first-round pick at another position of need. Quarterback isn’t their only missing piece.
Also, some reports have indicated that the Steelers don’t plan on drafting a quarterback in the first round. While there’s no telling the validity to those, it doesn’t create optimism that the Steelers will draft Simpson.
A lot has to happen for Clark’s perfect scenario to play out. There’s still no telling if Rodgers will return. The Steelers need to find their long-term answer at quarterback, but they might be better off waiting until next year to do that.
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