Jets To Go 'Duck' Hunting: Devlin Hodges Will Start for the Steelers in Week 16

Steelers going with an undrafted rookie free agent this week

Devlin Hodges will be the starter for the Pittsburgh Steelers this Sunday, the undrafted rookie free agent to get the nod under center against the New York Jets. 

Hodges is coming off a rough outing this past weekend in a 17-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills. He finished 23-of-38 for 202 yards, with one touchdown and four interceptions. 

In addition, he was sacked four times. 

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin announced on Tuesday at the team facility that Hodges, known as ‘Duck,’ will be the starter against the Jets (5-8). This despite the turnover situation last week in the loss to the Bills. 

“But we’ll move forward and hopefully learn some lessons from that experience. ‘Duck’ will start at quarterback this week; I look forward to giving him an opportunity to rebound. I think it’s reasonable to expect growth from young players as they get exposure. Sometimes that exposure can be negative exposure, like his experience in the last game,” Tomlin said from the team facility on Tuesday. 

#LIVE: Coach Tomlin addresses the media ahead of our game against the Jets. https://t.co/FkgoDSyXCn

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) December 17, 2019

“Exposure is a tool for growth, particularly at the quarterback position. I think it’s reasonable to expect him to learn from the negative experiences from last Sunday night, apply it to this next opportunity and really – hopefully – to not make those same mistakes twice.” 

Tomlin said that earlier this year, quarterback Mason Rudolph was given a similar chance after a tough outing to "respond and rebound from that performance in a subsequent week."

Last Thursday night, the Jets struggled defensively in a 42-21 loss at the Baltimore Ravens. 

Quarterback Lamar Jackson was 15-of-23 for 212 yards with five passing touchdowns. In addition, Jackson rushed the ball eight times for 86 yards. 

Jackson, in his second year in the league, is a former first round pick and the front-runner to be MVP. He is the opposite of the quarterback the Jets will face in Week 16. 

Hodges was a four-year starter at Stanford (he was a redshirt his true freshman season in 2014). He wasn’t selected in this past April’s NFL Draft. 

In late August, he was cut by the Steelers and then re-signed to the practice squad.