Mitch Trubisky signed a two-year, $14 million contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers this past offseason. Although the company line at the time was that he would battle Mason Rudolph for a starting spot, popular wisdom was that it was his job to lose.
Surely enough, everything coming out of the Steelers’ camp thus far indicates that Trubisky will likely be QB1 when the regular season rolls around.
Thus far, Trubisky’s offseason has largely gone according to plan. There has really only been one exception: Pittsburgh’s decision to draft Kenny Pickett with the 20th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
While Rudolph was always going to be there behind him, he is a largely known commodity. Steelers fans were unlikely to clamor for him to take over for Trubisky when inevitable bumps in the road occur.
Rookie quarterbacks are different, though. There is always a level of intrigue there – and that could put some additional pressure on Trubisky. This week, in an interview, Trubisky addressed the team's decision to draft Pickett fairly bluntly.
“I knew coming in to the situation, wherever I was going to go, I would have to come in, compete, earn the trust of my teammates and get back on the field with hard work and my talent and being a leader on this team,” Trubisky said, per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “We didn’t have those (draft) conversations, but I knew it was a possibility wherever I went.”
That’s about as good of an approach as you can take in a situation like this.
Pickett is obviously a fascinating talent. He went 32-17 as a starter and owns the high-mark for the most 300-yard passing outings and 400-yard passing outings in Pitt’s history. In fact, he really only has one known weakness.
It will be fascinating to see how he is able to push Trubisky, who at the end of the day is a battle-tested veteran.
Trubisky has faced tougher situations than this, so he is unlikely to be too shaken by the quarterback drama in Pittsburgh.
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