With the Pittsburgh Steelers 2016 season in the books, we will shift our attention to the off-season. We will review each position group for the Steelers, and look into how it may change going from 2016 to 2017. For our first position, we will look at the quarterbacks.
Pittsburgh Steelers 2016 Positional Overview: Quarterback
2016 Review
2016 was one of the more weird seasons for Ben Roethlisberger. Through six weeks, it was tough to make a case for any player in the NFL to be a better MVP candidate. Then, of course, injury struck and derailed his entire season. He only missed two weeks and one game with the injury, but it is safe to say Roethlisberger was a different passer down the home stretch. Before his injury, he had 15 touchdowns to four interceptions. He completed 65 percent of his passes and averaged 7.8 yards per attempt. After his injury, he completed 63 percent of his passes, averaged 7.3 yards per attempt and had 14 touchdowns to nine interceptions. A lot of his post-injury stats were boosted by a home game against the Dallas Cowboys that featured 408 yards, three touchdowns, and zero interceptions.
At the backup position, Landry Jones started two games, one in a meaningless week 17 win, and one in a loss to the New England Patriots mid-season. Jones completed just 61 percent of his passes and averaged 6.5 yards per attempt. He has four career starts now, and between those and preseason reps, there is really nothing to give the Steelers hope about his future with the team.
2017 Outlook
Ben Roethlisberger gave an interview that potentially could turn the Steelers off-season upside down. He mentioned uncertainty about playing in 2017, and while that was likely more of a message to his locker room than an announcement to hang up his cleats, it does raise some eyebrows. Nonetheless, the Steelers have to know he know has three years left on his contract, and at his age, injury history, and now his mention of seeing a light at the end of his tunnel, three years is likely it for Roethlisberger.
Jones is a free agent, and as mentioned he has no starter capability. The Steelers will have to make a decision whether to keep him as a backup, but they do currently have Zach Mettenberger signed on for 2017, who could fill that void.
Off-Season Preview
Heading into the off-season, this team will likely have to add a quarterback. With Mettenberger in the mix, retaining Jones, even in his backup role is not a must. Whether it be in free agency or the draft, the Steelers should look to shake things up, move on from Jones, and potentially look for a guy who can step in three years from now. In a draft class known to be weak at quarterback, and picking 30th overall, they will most likely have to wait until the late rounds of the 2017 NFL Draft to even think about addressing the quarterback position.
The list of available free agents is not pretty, but the Steelers could take a shot on a young name that can come in and compete with Mettenberger for backup duties. Mike Glennon, Geno Smith, and Matt McGloin are three names that are under the age of 27, have some starter experience and could be better backup options than Landry Jones. None should really think that they will be promised a starting gig anywhere in free agency, and knowing that Roethlisberger is one play, or one mood swing away from being out, they could see a closer path to starting in Pittsburgh than some other teams.
In the late rounds of the NFL Draft, Josh Dobbs from Tennessee, or Alek Torgersen of Penn are names to watch that may get a shot to make the roster as the third quarterback, and with a few years of development could compete for a starting job down the road.
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