If there’s one thing you can say about the internet, it’s that it is predictable. Aaron Rodgers signing ended the daily “Will HE? Or Won’t HE?” “updates” that bombarded us.
But now that Aaron Rodgers is in the fold, fretters still have to fret, so on comes the next “crisis,” namely the Steelers quarterback depth chart math problem.
Aaron Rodgers’ return gives the Steelers four quarterbacks, with veteran backup Mason Rudolph, second year man Will Howard, and 2026 3rd round draft pick Drew Allar.
How in the world will the Steelers manage 4 quarterbacks?
What kind of monster have Omar Khan and Mike McCarthy created for themselves…?
- OR something like that. And it’s all nonsense.
The Steelers have dealt with this situation before, as recently as 2018, when they had Ben Roethlisberger, Landry Jones, Joshua Dobbs and Mason Rudolph.
The answer to resolving this four quarterback quandary is the same now as it was then: Let reality unfold at its own pace.
With that understood, there are 4 possible outcomes, none of which should force anyone to fret.
Aaron Rodgers, Mason Rudolph, Will Howard and Drew Allar at Steelers OTAs. Photo Credit: Alysa Rubin, Steelers.com
1. Attrition May Make Decisions for Mike McCarthy
Let’s be clear. No NFL coach or General Manager ever wants injuries to make decisions for him. But it happens all the time.
- Omar Khan alluded to this in his post-draft press conference.
Even though quarterbacks don’t get hit in training camp, the Steelers have seen plenty of quarterbacks injured during the summer.
- Summer injuries cost Charlie Batch both the 2004 and 2008 seasons.
The Steelers were planning to start Byron Leftwich during Ben Roethlisberger’s suspension in 2010, but Leftwich got hurt. Dennis Dixon started the season and got hurt, and up stepped Charlie Batch – So it was a good thing the Steelers had 4 quarterbacks at their disposal, wasn’t it?
A year later, the Steelers brought the same quartet to St. Vincents, only to have Dennis Dixon get injured and lost for the season – again, math problem solved.
Bruce Gradkowski got hurt in camp in 2015, leading Michael Vick’s stint with the Steelers. Depth is a luxury in the NFL, not a liability. Quarterback is no exception.
2. Let the Preseason Play Speak for Itself
Football isn’t like amateur wrestling, you can’t just wrestle off two quarterbacks to see who is better. But quarterback competitions can tell you a lot.
- And right now, I’d guess that Mike McCarthy really wishes he was playing 4 preseason games.
[Cue the Dana Carvey-like Grumpy Old Man rant about how NFL errs by devaluing preseason.]
The upside to only having 3 preseason games is that Aaron Rodgers probably won’t play in any of them, so it frees up reps for everyone else. That should be enough for Rudolph to get his feet wet with the McCarthy’s offense while giving the coaches a good look at Howard and Allar in varied situations.
Can the Steelers keep 4 quarterbacks in 2018? Photo Credit: Karl Roser, Steelers.com
Mike Tomlin let his 3 quarterbacks duke it out in summer of 2018 and at the end he decided to cut Landry Jones. Given that Jones was the only backup quarterback with NFL experience, the move raised eyebrows.
But Jones never threw another NFL pass, while Dobbs and Mason Rudolph have made a 34 NFL starts between them.
3. Steelers Have Kept 4 Quarterbacks Before. Why Not Again?
Keeping 4 quarterbacks is unorthodox. But it has been done before. The New England Patriots began the 1989 season with 4 quarterbacks on their active roster, and all four made starts.
The Steelers of course kept 4 quarterbacks in 1995, when they had Neil O’Donnell, Mike Tomczak, Jim Miller and Kordell Stewart. Less well-remembered is 1999, when they did it again keeping Stewart, Tomczak, Pete Gonzalez, and Anthony Wright,. the Steelers “forgotten 4th quarterback.”
Anthony Wright the Steelers forgotten 4th String Quarterback. Photo Credit: Peter Diana, Post-Gazette
The roster math behind 4 quarterbacks is certainly complicated here in 2026, but Mike McCarthy will have an easier time today than Bill Cowher and Tom Donahoe did in 1995.
For starters, Bill Cowher kept Rod Woodson on the active roster throughout the Steelers 1995 season. And, unlike today, injured reserve ended a player’s season.
So Bill Cowher kept 4 quarterbacks AND an injured player on the active roster all season long and still made it to Super Bowl XXX. So keeping 4 quarterbacks can be done. And if not…
Speaking of injured reserve….
4. Follow the Washington Redshirts’ Example
In the pre-salary cap of the 1980’s Washington was notorious for stashing players on injured reserve. Joe Gibbs and Bobby Bethard had it down to a science.
One ESPN commentator went so far as to refer to them as the “Washington Redshirts.”
They did this with players at every position, but they excelled at doing it with quarterbacks. Both Mark Rypien and Stan Humphries had “Redshirt seasons” on Washington’s IR before going on to start Super Bowls.
So if both Howard and Allar show promise in the summer well then, one of them could end up pulling a groin in late August, couldn’t he….?
The Pittsburgh Steelers will arrive at St. Vincents with a quarterback math problem. But it is a good problem to have and one with several solutions. Let’s just let reality unfold at its own pace.
