Will Howard isn’t supposed to smell the sphere as a rookie. He’s anticipated to be the No. 3 quarterback, maintain a clipboard and take in all he can behind Mason Rudolph and, possible, Aaron Rodgers. If Howard enters the lineup, one thing has gone flawed. Very flawed.
Nevertheless it’s the NFL. Little goes as deliberate. Because the league has persistently proven, a handful of groups every year have to show to second, third, and even fourth-string quarterbacks. Put the numbers to the check. Because the NFL expanded to a 17-game schedule in 2021, right here’s the variety of quarterbacks who began not less than one sport league-wide and the quantity who began for the Steelers.
| Yr | Beginning QBs (NFL) | Beginning QBs (PIT) |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 59 | 2 |
| 2023 | 67 | 3 |
| 2022 | 70 | 2 |
| 2021 | 62 | 2 |
| Common | 64.5 | 2.3 |
On common, every NFL workforce is beginning basically two quarterbacks every season. Some seasons are even larger. In 2022, 70 totally different passers acquired the decision, a staggering quantity. Of the 4 years, 2024 noticed the fewest with 59, nevertheless it’s cheap to count on 60-something quarterbacks to get into the lineup all through the season. Pittsburgh isn’t any exception. Submit-Ben Roethlisberger, they’ve began not less than two every season and three in 2023: Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky, and Mason Rudolph. Whether or not it’s because of damage or ineffective play, groups go deep into their Rolodex of names at quarterback.
However even when we assume these numbers will apply to the 2025 Steelers, that also doesn’t put Howard within the lineup. As long as Rudolph and one other veteran, Rodgers or another person, Howard doesn’t turn into something greater than the No. 2. Nonetheless, that places him one snap away from taking part in the place any mid-game blip may get him into the lineup even when it’s not an precise begin. That happened to Kyle Allen last year, who was subbing in for Justin Fields for a pair of performs in opposition to the Dallas Cowboys, whereas Fields was required to be checked for a concussion. Allen accomplished one 19-yard go to TE Pat Freiermuth.
Taking it one step additional, a superb fraction of the league will get particularly snakebitten. Beneath is an inventory of groups that began not less than three quarterbacks in a single season, 2021-2024. Groups that began with greater than three are famous. There was not less than one such instance each season over that span.
Groups Who Began 3+ QBs (2021-2024)
2024 (8): CLE (4), DAL, LVR, MIA, NO, NYG, PHI, SF
2023 (8): ARI, CLE (5), LAR, LVR, MIN (4), NYG, NYJ (4), PIT
2022 (15): ARI (4), ATL, BAL, CAR, CHI, HOU, IND, LAR (4), MIA, NO, NE, NYJ (4), SF, TEN, WSH
2021 (8): BAL, CAR, CHI, CLE, NO (4), NYG, NYJ (4), WSH
In three of the 4 years, precisely one-quarter of the league, eight groups, began not less than three. That features the Steelers in 2023. In 2022, the league was rocked with almost half of the NFL, 15 groups, going deep into their depth chart.
In equity, there are examples of a quarterback beginning in a regular-season finale as a result of it was meaningless. Both as a result of a playoff workforce had nothing to play for or a workforce was giving a brand new face a have a look at the tip of a misplaced season (Dallas’ Trey Lance in 2024). Neither situation is more likely to apply to Pittsburgh. The Steelers received’t be among the best or worst groups, having performed only one “meaningless” sport within the Mike Tomlin period, the 2012 common season finale.
Nonetheless, the overwhelming majority got here from unexpected circumstances in the midst of a season. Hopefully, Pittsburgh avoids that rotten luck. However nothing is assured. If historical past continues, 25 p.c of the NFL will begin a third-string quarterback. For the Steelers, that’s Howard.
Assume Rodgers and Rudolph open the season forward of him. That makes Pittsburgh’s starter a 41-year-old (who will flip 42 by season’s finish). Rodgers has been sturdy however tore his Achilles 4 snaps into his 2023 season and performed harm for a lot of 2024. Rudolph has taken literal and figurative lumps and will play behind an offensive line that enters the season as an – at greatest – common unit.
The perfect rookie season Howard can have is an uneventful one. He clothes because the emergency third-string quarterback however doesn’t see a snap. However all it takes is one damage for him to go from being in-the-hole to the on-deck circle. And one other for him to step into the batter’s field.
