Steelers' Dionate Johnson Makes It Absolutely Clear Who He Wants As His QB And It's Not Kenny Pickett

The Pittsburgh Steelers' 2023 season featured a lot of inconsistency at the quarterback position. Second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett was the starter for the majority of it, but he wound up suffering an ankle injury in Week 13 against the Arizona Cardinals which would sideline him for a couple of weeks. Mitch Trubisky came in to start a few games, but had poor performances which led to Mason Rudolph taking over for the rest of the year. Rudolph played spectacularly, and led the team to the playoffs. 

Steelers' Diontae Johnson Shares Who He Wants To Start At Quarterback In 2024

Rudolph came in and led the Steelers to a 3-0 record to end the regular season, and played the Steelers into the seventh-seed in the AFC. They wound up losing to the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card round, but what Rudolph and the Steelers did to even get to the playoffs was amazing. Rudolph playing so well creates some questions at quarterback for Pittsburgh moving forward about whether or not they will stick with their 2022 first-round pick, or bring back Rudolph as the starter. Receiver Diontae Johnson shared his thoughts during a media scrum following the end of the 2023 season, which was shared by Nick Farabaugh.

"I've been around Mason since my rookie year, so it's nothing I wasn't expecting him not to do. I kind of had high hopes for him to do what he's doing. He came in and became the starter, so hopefully he gets the job next year, do what he gotta do, other than that, he did a great job man."

Rudolph shocked a lot of fans with his stellar performances to end the season. In his first start of 2023 against the Cincinnati Bengals, Rudolph finished with a passer rating of 124 and threw for two touchdowns and 290 yards. As aforementioned, he helped the Steelers win their last three games of the regular season, which were all must-win games if the Steelers wanted a chance at making the postseason. 

On X formerly known as Twitter, Johnson seemed to double down on his comments after word began to spread on social media. 

Rudolph and Johnson built up a good relationship on the field while Rudolph was the starting quarterback. Over the four games they played together, the duo accounted for 228 yards and two touchdowns. One of the touchdowns was a game-breaking 71-yard score in Week 18 against the Baltimore Ravens, and the other came against the Bills in the playoffs. 

Hearing the confidence in Rudolph is great, but Johnson declaring that he wants to see Rudolph be the Steelers' starting quarterback in 2024 must be a huge shot to the confidence of Pickett. Pickett has had an up and down career thus far, and hasn't really had a chance in a competent NFL offense. It is likely the Steelers will bring back Rudolph, and he and Pickett will be battling in training camp for the starting spot. 

What do you think of Johnson's comments? Let us know in the comments below!

#SteelerNation