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Without Ben Roethlisberger, the Pittsburgh Steelers are scrambling to enact a plan for his successor. At this point, the team will have free agency in March and the Draft in April. It's all in front of the team.
As such, plenty of pundits are listing names that could fit with the Steelers. Andrew Fillipponi, a local radio broadcaster in Pittsburgh, has made his preference known.
"I think the Steelers believe they can make the playoffs playing defense and running the football with a quarterback like Teddy Bridgewater. Get back to old school Steelers football. Beef up the trenches. And go with an experienced game manager."
The broadcaster is hoping the Steelers land Teddy Bridgewater, who will compliment the ground game of Najee Harris. While the defensive side of the ball will be taken care of by the likes of and TJ Watt. With all these pieces in place, Fillipponi believes the Steelers can make the playoffs once again, playing "old school Steelers football."
How would Teddy Bridgewater fare with Steelers?
It is a classic formula that can lead to a quality season. However, choosing Bridgewater to marshall the attack could lead to problems. While he has played in one playoff game before (one he should have won - sorry, Blair Walsh), the quarterback has proven to struggle at times in games against quality opponents.
For example, Pittsburgh trounced him last season in a game that was not as close as the score indicated. Plenty of Steelers fans will remember that 19-27 game from Week 4. Heading into that game, Denver were 3-0 at the time and looked good, however, that defeat turned out to be the first of a month of consecutive losses, pointing to Bridgewater's inconsistencies under center.
That said, as a game manager, he is great at avoiding rookie-like interceptions and ball security mistakes. However, with names like Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, and Deshaun Watson potentially on the table in addition to Jimmy Garoppolo, the Steelers would do well to move in another direction. Of course, as a backup plan, Bridgewater would be better off than throwing a rookie out into the deep end.
Last season, the quarterback came off a career-high 18 touchdowns, matched with seven interceptions. Bridgewater also suffered a season-ending injury with three and a half games to play, so all things considered, it was a watchable campaign on his part. That being said, the biggest risk with Bridgewater isn't his quality of play.
Instead, it is the quarterback's long history of injuries that have plagued his time in the NFL. With Denver, he had trouble staying on the field, eventually suffering a season-ending concussion. With Minnesota, the quarterback tore his ACL and damaged other parts of his knee, missing more than a full calendar year, according to Draft Sharks.
For the Steelers and any other interested parties, the quarterback serves as a quality option that can excel in a stable franchise. However, he should be looked at as a backup plan and not a franchise leader.
