The Pittsburgh Steelers report to St. Vincent College in Latrobe, PA on Tuesday for training camp, officially beginning their 2026 season. Of the several position battles that will take place, few, if any, will have more attention than the competition at backup quarterback.
Veteran Mason Rudolph and second-year quarterback Will Howard will be competing for the No. 2 job behind Aaron Rodgers. With Drew Allar all but guaranteed a spot of some sort after being drafted in the third round of the 2026 NFL
Draft, Howard and Rudolph will battle it out for what will likely be the final spot on the roster.
While Rudolph played a key role in Pittsburgh’s Week 11 win over the Cincinnati Bengals and started one game in relief of an injured Aaron Rodgers, two Steelers insiders believe it is Howard that has the inside track to win the QB2 job.
In respective appearances on 93.7 The Fan, Nick Farabaugh of PennLive and Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette both have Will Howard in pole position to win the job.
Howard was unable to partake in preseason play last year due to a hand injury he sustained in camp. Rudolph is entering the final year of his deal with the Steelers and will be a free agent in 2027.
Howard notably took QB2 reps in OTAs, which signaled that the Steelers were giving him every chance to earn the job.
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