Ben Roethlisberger Speaks on Rudolph, Washington Being Picked by Steelers

For the first time since the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Oklahoma State’s deep-threat tandem in consecutive picks on Friday night, Ben Roethlisberger spoke out about the picks — especially Mason Rudolph’s — and what they mean for his future in Steel City.

With Rudolph, the Steelers selected a QB in the first three rounds for the first time since 2004 — when Big Ben himself was taken. So what does that mean for his immediate future? Not much according to the future Hall of Famer.

Here’s part of what he had to say to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

“Well, that’s fine. He can do that,” Roethlisberger told the Post-Gazette on Tuesday about the rookie someday taking over as the Steelers starting quarterback. “But I plan on playing for three to five more years, depending on how the line goes and staying healthy, if I can stay healthy.

“If he’s going to be their guy, that’s great, but in my perfect world it’s not going to be for a while.” [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

Roethlisberger stated he had not yet met with Rudolph but seems ready to welcome a what would be the fourth member of Pittsburgh’s QB room.

“You know he’s able to play,” Roethlisberger said. “Anytime you get guys to come in, you can try to teach him a little bit, it’s a good thing. I’ll do whatever I can to help. I did that with Landry [Jones] and try to help [Josh] Dobbs as much as I can. Landry does a great job at that, he did it last year with Dobbs. It’s kind of the backup’s role.”

Rudolph has stated throughout the draft process, even before being selected with the Steelers’ third pick, that it wouldn’t be Big Ben’s job (or anyone else’s) to teach him the system.

Roethlisberger did express some excitement for the other half of Pittsburgh’s former OSU duo. With the departure of vertical threat Martavis Bryant, the Steelers filled an immediate need in his arsenal.

“When that happened, obviously we knew they would try to address that position in the draft,” said Roethlisberger. “I know a little bit about that kid from Oklahoma State, watched some of his highlights. A lot of people are comparing him to JuJu [Smith-Schuster]. If we can get JuJu’s productivity out of him, that’s awesome.”