“When are they going to start thinking about replacing Ben?” many fans have asked since Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was around 30 years old.
I’ve been trying to tell these fans that Pittsburgh is going really they start thinking about Roethlisberger’s heir the moment he finally turns off his boots, but they just don’t want to believe me.
“They need to prepare someone!” When did the preparation work? I know what you’re going to answer: “Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes say, ‘What is it?'”
My answer is, please. These guys would have been great if they had shown up to work on Day 1 and were named starting quarterbacks for their respective teams.
Unfortunately, despite the historical evidence that preparing someone for the position of defender is simply not working – along with the lack of evidence that the Steelers will employ anyone who approaches Roethlisberger’s skills for the next 20 years after his retirement – fans crave for the security of a true heir apparent.
Guess what? They appeased these fans. First, it was Landry Jones in the fourth round of the 2013 NFL Draft. A few years later, when it was decided that Jones was the worst reserve defender in league history, Pittsburgh chose Josh Dobbs in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft. A year later, the Steelers went “all in” and chose Mason “First-round Grade” Rudolph in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft.
Unfortunately, none of these guys were able to impress fans and give them a firm guarantee that the Steelers’ quarterback position will be in great hands after Roethlisberger’s career is over.
But don’t despair, because it was announced on Thursday that Dwayne Haskins, Washington’s former first-choice football team, had a future / reserve contract.
Or should I say, “Despair, a lot of despair”? Since his name is Dwayne Haskins, an ex-first-time Ohio State pick, and not Hwayne Daskins, a former non-hired free agent from Toledo, people are going crazy … and not in a good way. No, they are going crazy in an “FML, I can’t believe Haskins will be the Steelers’ starting quarterback for the next 16 years”.
Relax and take a cold pill. I realize that Haskins has not exactly been a model of consistency on the football field. I also realize that he hasn’t exactly been a model off the field, as his in-game selfies and trips to the strip club attest. Fortunately for Steelers and their fans, the reserve / future contracts are not strict.
Signing Haskins is just the Steelers’ last attempt to improve the position of reserve defender and / or find Roethlisberger’s replacement low. If it works, great! If it doesn’t work, that’s fine.
I know what you’re going to say next: “What about Haskins’ influence on a dressing room culture that is already so toxic thanks to the JuJu Smith-Schuster logo dance and Chase Claypool’s TikTok chatter?
Do you really think Dwayne Haskins will walk into a locker room full of guys named Cam Heyward, Stephon Tuitt, David DeCastro, Joe Haden and Maurkice Pouncey (possibly – it’s still 50/50) and immediately become Mr. Culture?
Please.
Do you know what’s going on here? Your need for the Steelers to discover that the heir apparent as a quarterback dominates you so much that you are interpreting things too much.
If I can sum it up, the Steelers really will not try to find Roethlisberger’s replacement until he retires. In the meantime, they will continue to recruit guys in the third or fourth round and signing ex-candidates in the first round for future bookings / contracts in hopes of overcoming the odds by developing a project.
But if the deal with Dwayne Haskins is still a little difficult for you to deal with, just refer to him as Hwayne Daskins.