Beyond Aaron Rodgers as the obvious starting quarterback for the Steelers, the rest of the depth chart has questions.
Mike McCarthy raves about Mason Rudolph
Head coach Mike McCarthy praises Mason Rudolph beyond just mentioning Aaron Rodgers as the starter.
Scoring Zone's Take
For fantasy purposes, Rodgers remains the priority piece here — draft him as a mid-to-late-round QB with upside based on his established arm talent and the weapons around him, keeping in mind his age and injury history as the swing factors on his season-long ceiling. Rudolph, meanwhile, is not a draftable asset in most formats right now; he's a backup with no clear path to snaps unless Rodgers is sidelined. That said, this kind of coaching praise is exactly the type of offseason signal to file away — if Rodgers were to miss time, Rudolph would likely step in with the coaching staff's backing rather than being a total afterthought, which nudges his speculative "handcuff" appeal up slightly in deeper or dynasty leagues.
Confidence here is high on the facts as reported (both sources agree on the substance), but the fantasy actionability is minimal. Treat this as background context rather than a reason to reach for Rudolph on draft day — he's a late-round dart throw at best, valuable mainly as a name to remember if Pittsburgh's QB situation shifts during the season.