Up until Week 4 when the Pittsburgh Steelers played the New York Jets, the team had a quarterback controversy on their hands. Entering 2023, Mitch Trubisky will be stapled to the bench, if he's still even with the team, and rookie signal-caller Kenny Pickett is the unquestioned starter. He will be looking to build on a season where he kept getting better as the year went on.
Once Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin made the call for Pickett to start the evaluation process of whether Pittsburgh has found their heir to Ben Roethlisberger truly began. After a challenging start to his NFL career the University of Pittsburgh product settled in and his uphill trajectory has him above a recent Super Bowl winner for the MVP.
DraftKings Sportsbook already has its odds up for one of the most prestigious awards in the sport. While Pickett is certainly an outside shot at winning with the 17th-best odds at +4000, he's ahead of two recent Los Angeles Rams quarterbacks that have made the Super Bowl. Directly after Pickett on the list are Jared Goff, Matthew Stafford and 2019 first-overall pick Kyler Murray. The only 2022 draft pick with higher odds than Pickett is San Fransico 49ers' quarterback Brock Purdy.
Where Did the Steelers 2022 Quarterback Play Stack Up?
After every week of the season, NFL.com's Marc Sessler released a ranking of the quarterbacks and he recently did one of all 68 quarterbacks to get a start this year. While Steeler Nation might not be too thrilled with Pickett's ranking at 25th behind the likes of Stafford and one spot behind former AFC North rival quarterback Andy Dalton, Sessler likes what he's seen from Pickett and thinks the team is in a good spot entering 2023 and beyond. Pickett was the highest 2022 rookie not named Purdy on the list, with the rest of the QB class including Malik Willis, who the Steelers were often connected to in the draft process, finishing 55th after a disappointing season that saw him benched for former Steelers third-stringer Josh Dobbs.
"The Steelers can feel good about the future after seeing their rookie starter come into bloom inside an evolving offense. Pickett shined in crunch time, becoming the only first-year passer in league history to throw final-minute, game-winning touchdowns in back-to-back starts against the Raiders and Ravens," he wrote. "Time will tell if he can overcome a lack of elite physical talent, but Pickett gives Pittsburgh something to build around."
As for Trubisky who seems all but destined to stay with the Steelers as an overpaid backup, Sessler ranked him 33rd. Trubisky had finished 19th on the list after a career year in 2018 but saw his rank fall to the 30s in the following seasons with this year's performance grading to be the worst so far.
"Trubisky can be peddled as a potential starter until real games begin," Sessler explained. "He's in a class of quarterbacks eternally destined to be benched for another option."
Trubisky proved to be serviceable in some situations in 2023 coming in relief of Pickett and getting a win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers stood out as a highlight, but looked awful in a start against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 14. If he returns to the team in 2023, he should only play if absolutely necessary.
More must-reads: