In Bill Cowher’s 13th season as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, starting quarterback Tommy Maddox injured his elbow in the third quarter of the Steelers’ second game of the season. Rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was forced to step in and become the new starter for Pittsburgh’s NFL franchise.

Fast forward 15 years. In Mike Tomlin’s 13th season as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger injured his elbow in the second quarter of the Steelers’ second game of the season. Sophomore quarterback Mason Rudolph was forced to step in and become the new starter of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Now will Rudolph pull a Big Ben and go 13-0 in his first season as the starting QB? It is very unlikely but the NFL is already crazy enough, so in all reality anything can happen. Rudolph, a former third round pick, is going to be expected to carry the workload for the Steelers the rest of the way as Big Ben’s elbow surgery is expected to make him miss the rest of the season. But do the Steelers have other options? They do. They have two in particular.

The first route the Steelers can go is the Rudolph route. Run, run, Rudolph will most likely be the tune of Pittsburgh this season. Rudolph is a young QB who has a chance to become the next franchise QB of the Steelers. While he is not a first round pick like Roethlisberger was, he was still a highly-touted prospect coming out of Oklahoma State. He has chemistry with Steelers’ wide receiver James Washington and he appears to have the trust of his teammates, according to quotes said during the past week by Steelers’ players.

This is a perfectly fine option as there is a legitimate chance that Rudolph can succeed with the Steelers. He has the weapons he needs on offense, it is just up to him to make it work. However, he is, once again, a young QB and the Steelers are not the type of team to want to miss the playoffs two seasons in a row. So what are their other options?

It is not often the Steelers trade for players during the season but they already have once so far, so why not again? After trading for defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick from the Miami Dolphins, the Steelers could look to acquire another QB via trade. Trading for quarterbacks is tough in the NFL and the asking price depends on the QB. Since it is only week three of the season, very few quarterbacks may be available. In Miami, the Dolphins may be more likely to give up veteran QB Ryan Fitzpatrick since they have sophomore Josh Rosen. However, Fitzpatrick has been on the decline for years, and is a reason why the Dolphins are 0-2 and have only scored ten points this season.

The only other option I see available would be Washington Redskins veteran QB Case Keenum. Keenum led the Minnesota Vikings to the playoffs two seasons ago and could be up for trade with the Redskins drafting QB Dwayne Haskins out of Ohio State in the first round this year. Keenum had a poor season with the Denver Broncos last year, but could benefit from the Steelers’ offensive line and depth at running back as well as star wide-out JuJu Smith-Schuster. However, Fitzpatrick and Keenum are unlikely scenarios since the Steelers do not trade for players all that often and instead would like to keep their draft capital.

Pittsburgh is most likely going to stick with Mason Rudolph for the rest of the season. The Oklahoma State Cowboy alum will have a chance to become the next great QB in the Steel City. If the Steelers begin to lose under Rudolph, will they trade for a veteran to help out since they traded their first-round pick to Miami? Probably not, but if they do, we know of two quarterbacks who may be helpful in keeping the Steelers from the basement of the NFL standings.