The Pittsburgh Steelers have thoroughly mangled their quarterback situation. That mismanagement could reach a new crescendo Sunday at Carolina if Mason Rudolph starts. Yesterday’s object of ridicule becomes today’s unlikely hero.

Unless he screws up.

Things first got botched when the Steelers eschewed any sort of succession plan as Ben Roethlisberger’s career approached its end. (Not that succession plans are foolproof: witness Green Bay drafting Jordan Love in 2020’s first round.)

Roethlisberger was 39 when he quit. He still would be playing if he had his way, and the Steelers might have a better record. Roethlisberger nonetheless stayed a bit too long, his six fourth-quarter comeback victories and overtime win in 2021 duly noted.

When the Steelers drafted Rudolph in 2018’s third round, they said he was a first-round talent. That smacked of a succession plan.

But then Rudolph had to play in 2019 when Roethlisberger’s elbow exploded. Rudolph did OK, but the Steelers soured on him. Probably too quickly.

Roethlisberger complained when the Steelers drafted Rudolph, too. That didn’t help.

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Fast forward to this past offseason. Roethlisberger retired. The Steelers still had Rudolph. They signed Mitch Trubisky. Then they drafted Kenny Pickett.

That gave them a lot of options, none good. Especially when the Steelers decided Pickett, 24 and so often described as “NFL ready,” was not NFL ready.

It’s easy to tell coach Mike Tomlin never has replaced a starting quarterback before.

The Steelers didn’t need to sign Trubisky and draft Pickett. Doing both was dumb.

If you sign Trubisky, wait till 2023 to draft a quarterback. More good quarterbacks will be available than in ’22.

If you intended to draft a quarterback, don’t sign Trubisky. Get by with Rudolph as the bridge QB.

If you don’t sign Trubisky but aren’t able to draft Pickett and don’t draft any other quarterback, so what? Sign a veteran to back up Rudolph for a year. The Steelers weren’t ever going to make the playoffs this season. Any idiot knew that. Draft a QB in ’23.

But signing Trubisky and then drafting Pickett created a bad situation. Promises were made and broken. Rudolph never had a shot. Trubisky likely was lied to.

Pickett saw his first action when he was introduced for the second half of the Week 4 home loss to the New York Jets.

It was a panic move on Tomlin’s part. Trubisky had struggled. He had a halftime row with receiver Diontae Johnson, a Tomlin favorite. Tomlin saw the season slipping.

If using Pickett was a preconceived notion, something Tomlin had pondered prior to the game, Pickett would have got some snaps with the first team the week before. He didn’t. Going to Pickett then was 100% spontaneous.

Trubisky was mad after. Not disappointed but angry. It’s whispered that Trubisky had been told he would start at least until the bye, which came after eight games.

Once Pickett went in, he had to stay in. (That’s what conventional wisdom dictates, anyway. Tomlin can do whatever he wants.)

Pickett has improved only marginally, if at all. He’s not thrown an interception in five games. Huzzah. He’s also thrown just four touchdown passes in 10 games. Boo.

It’s legitimate to wonder whether Pickett was ready to play when he made his NFL debut in Week 4, or if he is now.

If he’d played college ball at, say, Utah, Pickett would be getting crucified. But he went to Pitt and enjoys media and fan protection because of that. The continuing hype for his abject mediocrity is annoying beyond description.

That brings us to today: with Pickett concussed and Rudolph perhaps starting at Carolina.

Not to knock Rudolph, but him starting would be incredibly stupid. Rudolph is the one quarterback who absolutely won’t return next year. Until this past week, he’d been limited to scout-team work since training camp.

Here’s betting Trubisky starts, and Rudolph split snaps with Trubisky at practice this week by way of prepping Rudolph in case Trubisky gets hurt or falters badly.

If Rudolph starts, it scapegoats Trubisky and deflects attention away from how bad the Steelers stink. But it also highlights how badly Tomlin has mangled the quarterback situation since the day Roethlisberger retired and even before.

You know Roethlisberger loves this. He thinks he should still be playing, and the Steelers likely would have a better record if he were. Have him start at Carolina.

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