Aug 20, 2016 4 min read

Just remember Bryn Renner never heard of you, either.

In case you missed it, the Steelers signed Renner on Saturday.

He’ a quarterback.

And it’s hard to believe he could be any worse than Landry Jones, who, at least before Thursday night, was Ben Roethlisberger’s backup.

Jones went 12 for 20 with four interceptions in a 17-0 loss to the Eagles. He was playing without Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell and DeAngelo Williams, and you could make a pretty good case that at least two of the interceptions not being his fault. But Jones has made it pretty clear he’s not a starting quarterback waiting to happen.

That’s what your backup quarterback should be or he should be a guy who used to be a starting quarterback.

It’s even OK if your backup is Bruce Gradkowski, the veteran who’s been injured way too much lately and is out for up to four weeks with a serious hamstring injury. Gradkowski has shown he can have success in the NFL and can hold the fort until the No. 1 guy comes back.

Renner was a good quarterback at North Carolina but he wasn’t good enough to be drafted. He signed as a free agent with the Broncos in 2014. A shoulder injury that knocked him out in the middle of his senior season might have kept him from being drafted.

The Broncos released him in the preseason in 2014. After a stop in Arizona to play for the Rattlers in the Arena Football League, he signed with the Ravens and was on and off their practice squad before being activated last December. Then he signed with the Titans in January and the Chargers in March.

Normally you would be justified in asking why I would waste this much of your time telling you about a journeyman, barely hanging on, NFL backup quarterback.

But the Steelers need a backup quarterback. The guy who ends up with that job could determine whether they make it into the playoffs.

Jones has been around since the 2013 season and has had a few good moments, but a guy who is an NFL starter in waiting usually reveals himself to be one by doing something better than not totally stinking.

Jones hasn’t shown that his arm is anything special and a lot of quarterbacks to whom you might turn over your offense have come and gone since he showed up.

Roethlisberger is not likely to play 16 games this season. Chances are he’s going to be dropping back more often than he ever has under the Steelers’ Air Haley attack and that makes him more likely to get hurt.

Maybe Renner is only an injury away from becoming the next Kurt Warner, but on paper, he doesn’t look like much of an insurance policy.

Maybe he’s just an arm to use for the rest of training camp.

Signing an older guy who has made a few NFL starts would have made a lot more sense.

• The Steelers might end up missing Heath Miller even more than Le’Veon Bell. Miller retired and Bell just had his four game suspension for missing drug tests reduced to three.

Ladarius Green, the big tight end the Steelers signed as a free agent, had a chance to make more of an impact than Miller in the passing game, but he might or might not have concussion issues and is on the physically unable to preform list because of a previous ankle surgery.

Miller wasn’t what he used to be as a pass catcher last season but he was still pretty good and he was a major part of Roethlisberger’s pass protection.

• There is no way the NFL exhibition games are better than the Canadian Football League games I’ve watched this summer. The Steelers-Eagles game was excruciatingly boring. It’s encouraging to see the fans have been smart enough to stay away in droves.

• I believe the Al Jazeera America source was lying about the professional athletes he named for purchasing HGH, including James Harrison of the Steelers. I think he originally told the truth and was lying when he recanted.

John Steigerwald writes a Sunday sports column for the Observer-Reporter.