QB waiting game highlights other roster flaws

The football world is waiting with simmering impatience to see if the Pittsburgh Steelers sign Aaron Rodgers to be their next starting quarterback. But as “Ayahuasca Aaron” ruminates over the decision, by extension another truth has come to light.

The Steelers have plenty of other issues besides quarterback — especially on Rodgers’ side of the ball.

Throughout the discussion of who should become the Steelers 2025 starting signal caller, one refrain has been constant regardless of which candidate has been advanced: “Does it really make that much of a difference?”

It doesn’t. In theory, though, it should.

Sam Darnold went 14-3 last year with the Minnesota Vikings. Yet whatever peripheral pursuit the Steelers may have had in him was met with as little excitement as would have been the case if the Steelers retained Justin Fields or Russell Wilson.

The same can be said for the speculation about Rodgers, or even the reunion with Mason Rudolph.

Even many optimistic Steelers fans seem to put just about every QB option in the same bucket of 10-7 at best, and probably worse than last year.

Indeed, that’s a commentary on the state of the Steelers’ options in free agency or the NFL Draft this year. But it’s also a reality check on what this year’s quarterback (whoever it is) will have to work with on a weekly basis.

• The offensive line is full of promise and potential, but there is little evidence that it could keep a 41-year-old quarterback upright for 17 games. Steelers quarterbacks were sacked 49 times last year, tied for ninth-most in the NFL. That’s despite being 29th in pass attempts.

Meanwhile, despite being fourth in rush attempts (533), the run game averaged a pedestrian 4.1 yards per carry.

Isaac Seumalo is still hanging on as a quality NFL guard. Zach Frazier and Mason McCormick flashed potential at center and the other guard spot, but showed signs of fatigue as their rookie seasons advanced. Troy Fautanu ostensibly took a medical redshirt for his rookie season at right tackle, and struggling Broderick Jones is likely to make a position switch back to the left side in 2025.

That doesn’t sound like a unit that you can bank on for pass protection or run support for Rodgers, nor could it have been leaned into as a run-heavy attack if Fields had been retained.

• As for the running backs themselves, Najee Harris is gone. While his four years in Pittsburgh did little to warrant the hype surrounding his first-round draft selection, he was at least a constant atop the depth chart.

As of now, Jaylen Warren is the starter and Kenneth Gainwell is the backup. Warren doesn’t have an NFL start in three years. Gainwell has four in four years.

• DK Metcalf and George Pickens sound like a dangerous duo for deep shots down the field if the quarterback is provided time in the pocket to air it out. If not, their unique outside-the-numbers potential may be minimized.

In Pickens’ case, we have no idea how engaged (or how much of a distraction) he will be if he doesn’t get a contract extension. Don’t be surprised if a holdout occurs if he doesn’t get one. That’ll dent valuable time working with a new quarterback if Rodgers gets the job.

Metcalf is a former Pro Bowler with a $150 million contract extension. He also ended the 2024 season failing to exceed 70 yards in any of his last eight games after suffering a sprained MCL in Week 7.

• Arthur Smith’s offense was 23rd last year at 319 yards per game. The threepronged coordinator collection of Matt Canada, Mike Sullivan and Eddie Faulkner put together the 25th-ranked unit at 304 yards per game in 2023. So whatever hope existed that Smith could reinvigorate the Steelers’ production on that side of the ball rarely came to fruition.

Furthermore, Smith prefers the run game and doesn’t like to yield play-calling control. Rodgers would rather throw and wants autonomy at the line of scrimmage.

I’m sure that’ll work out great.

• Defensively, the Steelers stars are aging, the Pro Bowl trio of T.J. Watt, Cameron Heyward and Minkah Fitzpatrick have never manifested their individual talents into collective playoff success. The defensive line is thin. The secondary is inconsistent. And Watt is expected to get another mega-contract extension.

For how much money (at the age of 30) has yet to be seen. But it will dent the salary cap for years to come as his already often banged-up body ages.

Rodgers can’t fix all of that at this stage of his career. Neither can Wilson. Fields, Darnold and Rudolph wouldn’t have been capable in 2025 either.

Whoever gets this job is just going to be a bridge in 2025. What waits on the other side in 2026 is anyone’s guess. But the construction on that bridge is hardly limited to the quarterback position.