Mike Tomlin feelings clear on looming Steelers QB competition between Mitchell Trubisky, Kenny Pickett
By Ethan Lee
Even though some fans may want him to start soon, the Pittsburgh Steelers won’t simply name Kenny Pickett as their starting quarterback.
The Pittsburgh Steelers were clearly interested enough in Kenny Pickett to go out and draft the quarterback in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft. However, just because he’s a first round pick doesn’t mean that Pickett will be the starting quarterback for the Steelers as the season starts.
At the moment, it appears as if Mike Tomlin and the Steelers aren’t going to just simply hand the starting quarterback job to the young quarterback.
Tomlin recently made an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show. According to a tweet from Josh Carney, Tomlin apparently said he’s expecting a “fierce” competition for the starting quarterback role.
Mike Tomlin will make Kenny Pickett earn starting job over Mitchell Trubisky
So, it looks like Pickett will have to prove that he’s ready for this job. That means that the 23-year-old is going to have to be better than two quarterbacks who haven’t exactly wowed anyone since they’ve been in the league.
The 27-year-old Mitch Trubisky has been in the NFL for a few years now. Drafted in 2017, Trubisky spent four seasons with the Chicago Bears, but he was far from being a consistently solid quarterback while there. During those seasons, Trubisky threw for 10,609 yards and 64 touchdowns against 37 interceptions.
However, some less-than-stellar moments and the perception that Trubisky wasn’t elevating the Bears’ chances of winning led to him becoming a backup quarterback for the Buffalo Bills.
The third quarterback in the mix for the Steelers’ starting gig is familiar with the franchise. Mason Rudolph, who has been a backup quarterback with Pittsburgh since 2019, will now get a shot at being a starter.
It’ll be interesting to see who initially comes out on top of this and if that individual is able to hold onto the starting role for the foreseeable future.