It might not happen quickly, but some think the Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t take Landry Jones with one of their fourth round picks in order for him to battle for the backup position. With Ben Roethlisberger not getting any younger, the former Oklahoma quarterback might become a starter one day, although currently that seems like a long shot.

The Steelers now have four quarterbacks on their roster – Roethlisberger, having some problems with injuries over the last couple of seasons but when healthy one of the best in the NFL. The rest are Bruce Gradkowski, the first option to play as backup; John Parker Wilson, who has been around the league for a few years but still hasn’t played a single down, and now Jones.

Jones set a few record for the Oklahoma Sooners during his time there, but he isn’t as highly regarded as Sam Bradford was when he came out of college, although his time with the Rams hasn’t been an incredible success up to this point.

While some think that Jones is nothing more than a way to make the backup quarterback spot younger, after Charlie Batch and Byron Leftwich taking care of that role in previous seasons, there is a chance Jones is an option for a future franchise quarterback. With Ben Roethlisberger headed towards a new contract, also ensuring the cap hit in 2014 will be less than the $19 million it is scheduled to be now, a lot depends on Jones’ development.

No, this isn’t the case of Aaron Rodgers in 2005, when the Packers drafted him and knew he was going to take over for Brett Favre at some point. Jones is nothing but a raw prospect at this point, but when you think about a banged up Big Ben when he’s 34, 35 and 36, an emergent Jones doesn’t sound like such a bad option, especially when he comes at a much cheaper price than Roethlisberger.

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