All Dynastys must end and The Duck Dynasty has come to an inglorious conclusion after only a handful of games. Gave us some moments of excitement and hope but his popgun arm and inability to find the open receiver quickly enough doomed his chances of ascending to the Throne. Rudy looked much better after his bench rest and has twice the arm. Maybe some hope there... can't get much worse. Hard to believe we won as many games as we did with our offense averaging about a TD/game. It was obvious when the Jets got up by two FGs and Duck came in that we had no chance of winning that game. Our years of drafting for defense have finally paid off on that side of the ball but have resulted in an impoverished offense. Lots of holes = Oline looks like a big need to me, also an RB - Connor is great but just doesn't seem to have a "football body", Samuels hasn't developed into much and Snell is JAG IMO. Our WRs are looking solid to me. DJ might even push Juuj back to a #2 and Washington looks good as well. FWIW if Jalen Hurts somehow slides to us I'd take him in a heartbeat. The Jackson/Watson/Wilson etc double threat QB who can avoid pressure, run effectively when needed and complete > 60% looks like the future to me.
And that ladies and gentlemen, is life after Ben Roethlisberger
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I have no idea what was wrong with his elbow, but I do know that elbow surgery is more significant than you may think. My son had Tommy John about 4 years ago. The first several months you are very limited in what the docs and PT program allows you to do and then when you do start doing things, it is baby steps. For my son, the first therapy sessions were just about getting range of motion back in the elbow. Right now, you can touch your right shoulder with your thumb. It took quite a few weeks of very slow stretching just to get my son's range of motion back to the point he could make that simple move after he had TJ. Until he passed that gate, he wasn't allowed to do other things...including running which I am sure is what many think...the elbow isn't his legs. That said, we certainly did focus a lot on my son's diet while he was in the slow recoup months.
And yes, I know my experience is anecdotal, but I don't think the frame of reference is too far off.
Thing is they need to zoom in on Ben and make the right decision. Make the right decision at backup QB and I still think there is a chance to do special things. It isn't like this team is void of talent. They just need to make the right decision. The right vet. Perhaps not an easy decision but that is life hard decisions are made yearly by each team.
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Irrelevant because we haven't needed a #1 QB since Tomlin has been here, at least not until right about now.
The bottom line is turnovers. When Duck wasn't turning the ball over, the Steelers were winning. When he started throwing floaters into double- and triple-coverage (with other guys roaming wide open over the middle of the field -- it happened again today), they started losing. It's really as simple as that.
Rudolph is at least somewhat encouraging, because he has the ideal physical tools to play the position. And unlike Duck, he seems to be able to understand his progressions for the most part. If Rudolph can improve his accuracy, like he showed flashes of today, he could still develop into a capable NFL starter, or at the very least, a quality backup for Ben next year.
Rudolph is at least somewhat encouraging, because he has the ideal physical tools to play the position. And unlike Duck, he seems to be able to understand his progressions for the most part. If Rudolph can improve his accuracy, like he showed flashes of today, he could still develop into a capable NFL starter, or at the very least, a quality backup for Ben next year.
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I agree with you Slash and would be nice if we could snag a WR as well. I’m not sold on JuJu as a #1 and have no idea even if one will be available in F/A but do need to address it.
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Agreed. I really would like a Good TE as well. It’s not going to be easy,the numbers game must be a big headache for the FO. I want Bud signed,our salary cap shall be interesting. What will we have left over for a RB,QB? I have to look up the free agents. Too bad we didn’t get Drake thrown in as well with the Dolphins trade,I have to see what Arizona gave up for him,he looks great. I bet DJ is expendable over there.
Geeez I just looked it up gave up a 6th,could turn into a 5th. Drake looks great.Bargain.
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Ben at 65% is better than half the guys who start in this league. If they alloted 100% of their cap space to a FA QB you'd be lucky to get someone at Trent Greene or Neil O'Donnell's level...who can't lead a good team to a Lombardi
Ben surrounded with good coaching, another offensive weapon, and a repeat of this years defense is our best hope.
As madisomniac said Rudolph, Duck, and Ben are the QB's next year. If Ben is done or unable to play well then they probably draft a QB in round 1 in 2021, with a 50/50 shot of him being a bust....that's depressing but its hard as hell to find a franchise QB
Ben surrounded with good coaching, another offensive weapon, and a repeat of this years defense is our best hope.
As madisomniac said Rudolph, Duck, and Ben are the QB's next year. If Ben is done or unable to play well then they probably draft a QB in round 1 in 2021, with a 50/50 shot of him being a bust....that's depressing but its hard as hell to find a franchise QB
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The team has lots of talent. On the offensive side of the ball, however, a lot of that talent is young and inexperienced. The guy who could lead them this year blew his elbow and we did not have Charlie Batch or Lefty in the wings. I agree with you that they are likely to bring in an FA vet QB and continue to develop MR. Duck will be given a chance to compete in camp, but I suspect he will be the odd man out.
We need to upgrade the runningback position and get a real O-line coach. It’s not a coincidence that we change from the best O-line coach to his understudy and the O-line all of a sudden looks like crap.
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Or Cement Graham.
Remember when he took a timeout the Steelers didn't have from the 5 yard line down by 3 with 7 seconds to go?
Good ole 10 second runoff.
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Everybody hates him, but Kordell Stewart still played a serviceable game. Sure, he was mediocre, but he was still head and shoulders over what we have currently.
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Neil O'Donnell (**** you Larry Brown!) Was dependable. He wasn't flashy or exciting, but he was safe.
I honestly didn't watch much of the Bubby years and I never saw the stork, Mark Malone).
I honestly didn't watch much of the Bubby years and I never saw the stork, Mark Malone).
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Part of the reason that everyone here is rushing to prematurely give up on Rudolph and Duck is because the last young qb we started was Ben, who had subjectively the single best or at least top three rookie campaigns in NFL history, followed up by one of the greatest sophomore seasons ever for a qb... that is far from typical
Look in NFLs past qbs didn’t see the field for years... “young” qbs are usually referred to anyone under 27... in RB years that’s nearly retired lol.... There are more young starting qbs around than ever... cause teams realized that even if they worked out all the technical issues and taught them the offense, it was still taking a year if actually starting to acclimate to nfl gamespeed and then another to see how the league adjusts to them...
We also don’t get to see lowlights of these guys, just highlights.... early on as a starter Allen looked like Rudolph did early in the season only worse... sam darnold was seeing ghosts...
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I’m not giving up on Rudolph because yes, unless you’re Mahomes, the learning curve in the NFL is so significant. I see him as someone who with the right OC could become a Jared Goff-level QB. Not what we want as our next franchise QB, but definitely a field-able backup. I see 2021 as the year we use our first pick on Ben’s replacement.
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No, but his beard accentuates it. His face is round, his girth looks like a barrel. Hope he’s wearing layers lol. I love him, but he does look like he’s gained weight.
Ben's starting to look like Ramon Foster