As the 90-man rosters are now set, you now have the information to start looking into training camp battles, and see what positions the Steelers may be looking at this year. We will look through the Steelers roster and see who not only will make the team, but where they stand in terms of playing time for not only the 2016 season, but for the future. There are always reasons to hold on to these lower end players who may be able to make an impact as players come and go via free agency. This edition we will look at one of the easier positions to sort out, the quarterback position. Three quarterbacks should make the final roster in August.
Pittsburgh Steelers Quarterback Depth Chart Projection
1. Ben Roethlisberger
Not a shocker here, Roethlisberger is the starting quarterback. Honestly, his long term replacement is not even on the roster yet. Roethlisberger has missed seven games in the past four years, so the back up question will be something to watch for, but the Steelers are not the Super Bowl contenders without Roethlisberger. He is 34 now, but coming off of a season with a career high in completion percentage, 68, and with nearly 4,000 yards in 11 starts he should be set for a big season.
2. Bruce Gradkowski
Right after the draft, the Steelers signed Gradkowski. It was rumored that the Steelers had a deal to trade up into the fifth round if a player they liked was there. The Steelers did not pull the trigger, but given that they did not have Gradkowski you could assume they were looking quarterback there. Cardale Jones went as the last pick in the 4th round, and no other quarterback went in the 5th round, so to put two and two together, as well as Jones having Roethlisbergers body type, they had their eyes on him. A battle between him and Landy Jones would have been interesting, but Gradkowski is the veteran, he has been with the team since 2013 and was slated to be theback up over Jones last year, before a shoulder injury. Gradkowski should win this job.
3. Landry Jones
The reason the Steelers would be looking to draft a quarterback is that they cannot be confident in Jones. Last year, the Steelers decided after the Gradkowski injury to sign Michael Vick and start him when Roethlisberger got hurt. Vick averaged 13 completions for 123 yards per game in his stint in Pittsburgh but the Steelers still rode him over Jones. Jones did start two games, and came in for relief of Vick in a shocking win over the Cardinals, but that was aided mainly by Martavis Bryant. In Jones three games he only completed 58% of his passes. Jones is a free agent this year, and you would assume the Steelers are crossing their fingers that Gradkowski can stay healthy this year and that they can just let him go and draft another quarterback to groom behind Roethlisberger and Gradkowksi.
The Steelers have Dustin Vaughan, who will go to Latrobe to compete for a spot on the roster, but with Jones making more money, and being able to potentially get a compensation pick when he leaves next year, only injury would give Vaughan a shot at the roster at this point. The Steelers will only carry three quarterbacks into the regular season and barring an injury it should be these three in that order.
