One of many first duties of Mike McCarthy in his new job with the Pittsburgh Steelers is deciding on the beginning quarterback. The franchise is claimed to be ready on a call from veteran Aaron Rodgers, who’s contemplating retirement, whereas actively taking a look at different choices for the place.
The Athletic’s Saad Yousuf supplied his prediction on the Steelers’ beginning quarterback for 2026 ought to Rodgers resolve to retire. The analyst believes Mason Rudolph, who has 31 complete touchdowns within the NFL, shall be given the beginning job as McCarthy takes on his first season.
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“The Steelers proceed to attend on a call from Aaron Rodgers,” Yousuf wrote. “If the 21-year veteran returns for an additional season, the Steelers might return the identical quarterback depth chart from a 12 months in the past.
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“If Rodgers doesn’t return, Mason Rudolph could possibly be elevated to the beginning spot, making Will Howard the brand new backup. No matter Rodgers’ resolution, it wouldn’t be shocking to see the Steelers add a quarterback within the draft.”
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Rudolph has spent all however one among his seven seasons within the NFL with the Steelers, and he stays beneath contract with the crew for the 2026 season. Yousuf’s prediction comes regardless of the thrill that Mike McCarthy might assist develop second-year quarterback Will Howard to an elite degree, as he did with Rodgers in Inexperienced Bay.
Mike McCarthy describes the place Will Howard wants to enhance
To earn the beginning quarterback position subsequent season, there’s little question Will Howard must up his sport and show he’s an NFL quarterback. Throughout his media availability on the annual league assembly final Tuesday, Mike McCarthy described the place Howard wants to enhance.
“I feel the most important factor with Will, and it is in all probability in line with younger quarterbacks, they have to win from the pocket,” McCarthy mentioned. “On the finish of the day, 9 or ten video games a 12 months are going to return right down to the two-minute drill. That is what the stats inform you. That is the way in which we prepare.
“So his means to win from the pocket, as a result of I feel he has every little thing else. Folks get caught up on what spherical he went in, but when I had been drafting gamers that 12 months, he would not have been round within the fifth or sixth spherical. I valued him greater than that, primarily based off Kansas State.”
Mike McCarthy’s phrases recommend Will Howard generally is a viable quarterback choice if he can repair what he believes is his major flaw in the intervening time. He would have extra time to do that beneath the brand new offensive employees if Aaron Rodgers returns for an additional season in 2026.
Edited by Farouk Yusuf
