The Pittsburgh Steelers are in as close to a crisis as they can get. They haven’t won a playoff game since 2016. They don’t have a long-term answer at quarterback. And QB Aaron Rodgers still hasn’t signed. That puts head coach Mike Tomlin in a tough spot. He could be looking at Mason Rudolph as his Week 1 starter in 2025.
It’s not like there really is anyone else at this very minute. Rudolph is the de facto QB1 for the Steelers. It’s him, Skylar Thompson, and rookie Will Howard. Those are the three quarterbacks under contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers during voluntary OTAs. That will change if and when Aaron Rodgers signs.
But what if Rodgers doesn’t sign and they can’t work out a deal with the Falcons for Cousins? How could the Steelers fare with Mason Rudolph as the starter for 2025? Former NFL DT Gerald McCoy doesn’t feel like the Steelers could take the next step.
“The Pittsburgh Steelers have been consistent, if nothing else, but they’ve been consistently on the cusp, and that’s not where they want to be,” said McCoy on [Tuesday’s episode of the Rich Eisen Show](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw0omn9oRM0&ab_channel=TheRichEisenShow). “They’ve had entirely too much talent. Mike Tomlin is entirely too great of a coach for them to always be consistently on the cusp. And if Mason Rudolph is the quarterback, it’s gonna be more of the same.”
I think McCoy is going to manage to piss off a lot of Steelers fans with this statement. A lot of fans are growing more and more frustrated with the lack of playoff success in the last near-decade. The team failed to plan adequately for Ben Roethlisberger’s decline and retirement. That’s why they’re looking at players like Rodgers, who turns 42 in December, or Atlanta Falcons QB Kirk Cousins.
Despite the lack of high-level quarterback play for years, the Steelers have consistently competed for a playoff berth. At one point last season, they controlled their own destiny for the AFC North title. That was before the five-game losing streak to end their season.
Some people point to Mike Tomlin as the reason why the Steelers consistently compete year in and year out, despite not having a franchise quarterback. Gerald McCoy is one of those, evidently. But there are also plenty of fans who point the blame squarely at Tomlin for the failure to develop a quarterback. Part of that blame should also fall on former general manager Kevin Colbert, but fans certainly have a point.
But the last time we saw Mason Rudolph suit up for the Steelers, he helped engineer a crucial three-game winning streak at the end of the 2023 season. That helped the Steelers make the playoffs. Doesn’t he deserve a shot to start?
“I’m happy for anybody who has an opportunity to play in this league and start in this league,” McCoy said. “If Mason Rudolph is the starting quarterback, Mason Rudolph is one of the best football players in the world. It doesn’t matter… It is extremely difficult to make a team in the NFL, to play on a Sunday. But to be a starting quarterback, the hardest position in all of football, is the most difficult thing you can do… Can he go beat you with his arm when it’s necessary? Nah, not with the quarterbacks he’s gonna have to face.”
For whatever reason, Mason Rudolph hasn’t been given much of a chance as the starter in Pittsburgh. Perhaps Mike Tomlin and the Steelers share McCoy’s view that Rudolph simply can’t beat quarterbacks like the Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson or the Cincinnati Bengals’ Joe Burrow. During Rudolph’s three-game winning streak in 2023, he beat the Bengals and the Ravens. But neither Burrow nor Jackson started for their respective teams.
Hopefully, if push comes to shove, Mason Rudolph can prove Gerald McCoy wrong. Otherwise, Mike Tomlin and the Steelers will be treading water again in 2025. Neither good enough to contend for the Super Bowl nor bad enough to pursue a potential franchise quarterback without trading up.
But there are those who aren’t counting out Mason Rudolph as a potential starter. NFL.com’s Bucky Brooks thinks that [the Steelers can win games with Rudolph](https://steelersdepot.com/2025/05/bucky-brooks-dont-dismiss-steelers-chances-of-winning-with-mason-rudolph-starting/). But the question is, _how many games?_ That’s the point McCoy makes. He feels like it’ll be more of the same, contending for a playoff spot and nothing more. And that’s not where the Steelers want to be, nor should they be.