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Steelers Make Surprising 2020 Quarterback Decision

Steelers Make Surprising 2020 Quarterback Decision

Steelers Make Surprising 2020 Quarterback Decision

The Steelers made a surprising 2020 quarterback decision this week.

On Wednesday, team owner Art Rooney II said that the organization was going all in on Ben Roethlisberger being the starter next season.

Moreover, he insisted that they would not be bringing in an insurance policy to prepare for a scenario where Roethlisberger’s recovery did not go as planned.

In 2019 Pittsburgh lost Roethlisberger in Week 2 and was forced to go back and forth between two backups for the remainder of the season.

Second and third string passers, Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges, both proved incapable of consistently leading the offense in Roethlisberger’s absence.

Despite having an offense held together by paperclips, the Steelers finished 8-8 on the year and were in the running for a Wild Card slot right up until the last day of the season.

Rooney believes that Roethlisberger will be back healthy as ever in 2020, and that the team will be able to build on the momentum gained in 2019.

Roethlisberger is currently rehabilitating his right elbow after a September 2019 surgery, but expects to be back in time for next season.

Even if Roethlisberger does return healthy from the elbow issue, he is 37 years old and has taken a ton of hits over the course of his career.

Most teams in Pittsburgh’s situation would bring in a veteran standby in case something goes wrong – but Rooney does not seem to have any interest in that.

He appears fine with Rudolph being Roethlisberger’s primary backup, despite him also getting hurt to close out the year.

“Hopefully it was something, what’s the old story, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger?” Rooney said.

“Hopefully it’s that kind of situation for him. But I think we’re all pretty comfortable with Mason coming back as our backup and being a guy that can continue to develop.”

Steelers brass is clearly rolling the dice for next season and betting that Roethlisberger is all they need to make another deep playoff run.

Will that gamble pay off? We’ll find out soon enough.

Related: Chicago Bears Make Abrupt Coaching Change

Carlos Garcia

A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.

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