Insider: 'Minimal fractional chance' Mason Rudolph wins Steelers job over Mitchell Trubisky

In their first summer depth chart released ahead of this past weekend, the Pittsburgh Steelers listed free-agent signing Mitchell Trubisky as their starting quarterback ahead of both backup Mason Rudolph and rookie Kenny Pickett. 

Rudolph is No. 2 heading into this coming Saturday's preseason opener against the Seattle Seahawks amid reports that he's been "the team's most accurate quarterback" throughout training camp. While head coach Mike Tomlin has said he's holding a competition involving the club's top three options, every indication is that the job is Trubisky's to lose and that he'd have to look downright awful over the three August exhibition matchups to surrender his spot in the lineup to Rudolph. 

For a mailbag released on Monday, The Athletic's Mark Kaboly was asked if there is "even a fractional chance" that Rudolph could win the gig before the month comes to an end. 

"Sure, there’s a fractional chance, but it is minimal," Kaboly responded. "The Steelers want Trubisky to start and probably rightfully so. Trubisky is under control for two years and Pickett isn’t ready. It makes no sense for Rudolph to return in 2023 anything short of Pickett being an absolute disaster, and even then, Rudolph wouldn’t get a chance. It’s just the way it is."

Mark Madden of TribLIVE and 105.9 The X reported on Monday that Pickett "just isn’t close to being ready" and "may not be ready to play exhibitions yet." Madden added he believes Trubisky and Rudolph will "each play half" on Saturday night. 

Following that game, the Steelers will be at the Jacksonville Jaguars on Aug. 20.