The Pittsburgh Steelers began the 2023 season with Kenny Pickett as the starting quarterback and ended with Mason Rudolph getting the playoff starting spot. The quarterback situation in Pittsburgh is far from ironed out, but team general manager Omar Khan has hope for their former first rounder.
Khan admitted that they are going to fully evaluate their options, whether that is bringing in a veteran, adding someone in the draft or going with who they have now.
"There's different avenues for us — draft, free agency, the trade market. I would say every one of those avenues is an option for us," Khan said (The Athletic). "We're looking at everything. I have an obligation to this organization, to the players, to the front office, to every member of Steelers nation, to look at every option, every way of trying to improve this team. And we're going to do so."
As they head into the 2024 season, Khan says he has "full faith'' in Kenny [Pickett].
"He's shown us some good things and there were some issues with the offense. I'm excited about the impact that [new offensive coordinator] Arthur Smith is going to have on him," Khan said (via ESPN). "Arthur's very optimistic about Kenny and I know they've communicated. Like I said, we'll have strong strong competition there and we'll see how it goes."
Pickett played in 12 games last season, going 7-5 with a 62.0 completion percentage, 2,070 yards, six touchdowns and four interceptions. In 2022 he also started 12 games and went 7-5 in those matchups, with a 63.0 completion percentage, 2,404 yards, seven touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Rudolph played in four games, starting and winning all three as QB1, after Pickett suffered an ankle injury. He had a 74.3 completion percentage, with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Rudolph helped get the team to the playoffs and head coach Mike Tomlin decided to stick with him for their postseason game, with Pickett as the backup.
The third-stringer turned starter is a pending unrestricted free agent and if he stays in Pittsburgh he will provide competition for Pickett. If Rudolph ends up with a different team, the Steelers still intend to bring someone in to challenge Pickett.
