Dalton

[MOSteelers56]

1 hour ago, Steeler Hitman said:

The Steelers thought that last year as well. They let Landry go in the first place because of Mason's potential. If you are not developing a future QB, then your back-up should be a guy who can win you some games and keep you competitive. I think Mason does grow, but to what extent? I like Duck's heart and think he grows, but again, to what extent? Paxton has experience and a top draft pick pedigree, so I would be curious what he could do with an off season of preperation to compete. 

Andy Dalton would be a very safe insurance policy should Ben go down or even to rest him a game and win a la how we used to give Landry late season reps the last game after the division was won. I would really love to see Marcus Mariotta in Pittsburgh. He is young and would be too expensive, but he is a player that would win games once he gets comfortale with the offense. He is also mobile (something all of the current QB's lack except Barrett).   I would love to have Dalton, Mariotta or Winston behind Ben and let Mason sit and develop more as originally planned. He was not ready to play as the pre-season showed. Some team is going to offer those guys money. They are young (except Dalton) and are looking to make as much as they can. $$$ is the problem with veteran's.  

Landry took a lot of heat as the Steelers back-up, but I don't think anyone would doubt that he would not have won some games and given the Steelers a better chance to win and the offense more versatility. You have to be prepared for when the defense has a bad game too and you get into a slug-out or shoot-out. Holding teams under 20 points and not turning the ball over, will help you win most games in this league. 

I think Mason IS that already. He's, IMO, showed us that he's just about as good as Landry ever was with us, and he has potential to grow more. Mason is the guy that can come in if Ben goes down and win a game or two(or honestly lead this team to 10 wins for a full season), especially with the defense. Mason is going into his first offseason after seeing snaps on offense. He should improve quite a bit. He's seen NFL speed now, he's made NFL throws. He's a smart kid that apparently works and studies hard. He'll improve. If you want to develop a QB as the #3, that's fine. I think Duck, Paxton, and Barrett can be that developmental guy at #3. 

[Lambert44]

After seeing a bigger sample size of Hodges he has no arm strength to play in this league. And to me, Rudolph is still a question mark.

Hopefully Ben steers away from his drama when it comes to injuries and is upfront with his elbow to the organization. If it is not looking

good we need a veteran QB so we do not see a good defense wasted again next year.

 

[Steeler Hitman]

On 1/5/2020 at 4:52 PM, MOSteelers56 said:

I think Mason IS that already. He's, IMO, showed us that he's just about as good as Landry ever was with us, and he has potential to grow more. Mason is the guy that can come in if Ben goes down and win a game or two(or honestly lead this team to 10 wins for a full season), especially with the defense. Mason is going into his first offseason after seeing snaps on offense. He should improve quite a bit. He's seen NFL speed now, he's made NFL throws. He's a smart kid that apparently works and studies hard. He'll improve. If you want to develop a QB as the #3, that's fine. I think Duck, Paxton, and Barrett can be that developmental guy at #3. 

I think Mason IS that already.

I am not saying that you are wrong, but I am not there with Mason yet.  I still need to see more growth. In football today, the clock is accelerated.  Those of us who grew up watching Terry Bradshaw realize that the HOF QB would not have made it as long as he did in today's NFL.  Bradshaw took about five years to develop/get comfortable.  That is not the case anymore. While I am not expecting five years with the way the NFL is now (offseason mini-camps, individual coaches and year round access to football). Mason had a slow jump from rookie to sophomore. I did not think he or Josh Dobbs performed well enough to be counted on to win games. Our defense was a surprise this year.  Our offenses top point production was 27 for the entire year and most of those were due to the defnese. I think he is capable of becoming that, but based on his play, he IS NOT that yet in my opinion.

He's, IMO, showed us that he's just about as good as Landry ever was with us, and he has potential to grow more.

Landry took a lot of heat, but Landry played fairly well and typically lost to play-off caliber teams if I recall (Kansas City and New England). Correct me if I am wrong. I am not suggesting that Landry is great, but he knew our system, he had enough experience to beat a defense that stacked on him and did not kill the team with errant throws. Many of us have had that discussion, but honestly as back-ups go, he certainly wasn't great, but he wasn't bad either.  Let's not forget that the Steelers actually tried to sign him after Ben went down. Why? He knows the system and is an experienced NFL QB.  That is what Mason lacked (experience).  That hurt us this year and I am not sure that it wouldn't hurt us next year. I am not saying the Steelers "will do" what I think, but I would be more comfortable if Big Ben would go down or not recover with Mariotta or Dalton.  Mason IS NOT in their category YET.  

Mason is the guy that can come in if Ben goes down and win a game or two (or honestly lead this team to 10 wins for a full season),

I agree with the first part, but remember that he got benched after a very poor performance. he seemed to hit a wall, just as Duck eventually did. Defenses challenged them and exploited their lack of experience and weaknesses. We didn't get to the 10 win point this season and were very fortunate to hit 8 wins. Our offense was not a juggernaught by any means.

especially with the defense.

Our defense is why we won 8 games and set the offense up to win more with a veteran QB (San Fran, Ravens #1, Bills, and Jets) all winnable games with better play at QB and the running game being at least serviceable.

 Mason is going into his first offseason after seeing snaps on offense. He should improve quite a bit.

We both hope so, but that is no given. I do believe that he has the potential to be a decent QB, but not elite.I am convinced that you need an elite QB to win the Super Bowl. Even when Elway and Peyton were older, they were still elite in their experience and gamemanship.  With a good defense and a strong rushing attack added to that, you can win. I hope he gets healthy, has learned some, and is ready to take the next step in his career. He has some tools and I like his fire.

He's seen NFL speed now, he's made NFL throws. He's a smart kid that apparently works and studies hard. He'll improve. If you want to develop a QB as the #3, that's fine. I think Duck, Paxton, and Barrett can be that developmental guy at #3. 

I am torn as I am a Duck fan and I was a fan of Paxton Lynch's. Again, another case of a QB being over-drafted and thrust into the game way too early. I love the underdog, so my heart is slightly edging towards Duck. The real question will be how well he improves this offseason.  Last pre-season, he out-performed both Mason and Dobbs according to many reports. Some even speculated that if both Dobbs and Mason were not draft choices, one would have been traded or cut. I don't know how serious the team is with Barrett. There are four developmental guys on the roster. That is why, I lean towards getting a veteran if the $$$ is right. We ,may well be stuck with them for a year. For this reason, I don't see the Steelers drafting a QB unless, someone mysteriously falls.  Good discussion.