The Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense is no stranger to veteran free agents on one-year deals as of late. Aaron Rodgers certainly fits that description as yet another quarterback in the twilight of their career that the team is counting on to have one final resurgence. WR Allen Robinson II, who recently spent one season with the Steelers in 2023, gave his two cents on how the union between Rodgers and the Steelers will go.
“I mean, we’ve seen Coach Tomlin coach Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell, Ben Roethlisberger. Some of the biggest names and personalities that we’ve saw in the game and have an extreme amount of success,” Robinson said via This Is Football on YouTube. “Aaron Rodgers going to Pittsburgh, I think that’s a phenomenal fit. He’ll be able to bring his alpha nature under center and be able to kind of ignite everybody as well. And Coach Tomlin will give him full autonomy to be able to do that.”
Robinson only spent a year in Pittsburgh, but it was long enough to see what makes Tomlin so respected in the locker room. He would’ve had a front row seat to George Pickens as a young player and the unfortunate quarterback carousel that Tomlin had to manage between Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky, and Mason Rudolph. He saw them battle through too many injuries to count on defense and still claw their way to the playoffs. Through it all, his biggest takeaway was Tomlin’s ability to get the most out of players.
“One thing that I learned from being there is, you’re gonna see guys with Coach Tomlin, they’re gonna play almost at their best very, very frequently,” Robinson said. “That’s just the kind of operation that he runs…he really gives that to his players to be able to step in and be themselves.”
There are a few notable exceptions, but there aren’t too many departed Steelers over the years who have gone on to perform better elsewhere. That is a testament to Tomlin’s ability to get the most out of his players.
We saw flashes of it last season when Russell Wilson suddenly passed for 684 yards and four TDs over a two-game stretch. Getting the most out of Rodgers would look even better than that if he’s able to do it.
Aaron Rodgers had just five wins last season with the New York Jets on a fairly talented roster. However, it was a young roster that required more than just a quarterback to reach the next level. The Steelers at least have a core of veteran leaders and an established head coach with a history of being competitive in the regular season.
It will be up to Rodgers to help get them over that hump and into the win column of their playoff record for the first time in almost a decade, but he doesn’t need to create something from nothing to get there.
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