Mason Rudolph named 'likeliest candidate' to be Steelers' backup QB over Kenny Pickett

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has teased that he will hold a legitimate competition to name the successor to retired quarterback and future Hall of Famer Ben Roethlisberger during training camp and the preseason this summer. However, it's widely assumed that free-agent signing Mitchell Trubisky would have to be downright disastrous during August exhibition games to lose the gig to either first-round draft selection Kenny Pickett or career backup Mason Rudolph. 

Last week, Steelers insider Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and ESPN's Brooke Pryor said that the club could look to shop Rudolph to a quarterback-needy team before September so he can receive opportunities to play and also so that Pickett can enter Week 1 second on the depth chart behind only Trubisky. At least one analyst is predicting things could go differently among the Pittsburgh signal-callers. 

While ranking backup quarterbacks for a piece published Monday, Mike Kaye of Pro Football Network named Rudolph as the favorite to earn the No. 2 job over Pickett. 

"First-round pick Kenny Pickett entered OTAs as the No. 3 QB in Pittsburgh," Kaye noted. "While his status in the pecking order will eventually change, Rudolph is the likeliest candidate for the No. 2 job in Week 1 behind Mitch Trubisky. Rudolph did a solid job filling in for Ben Roethlisberger over the past three years but is still probably the third-most talented QB on his roster. That said, he’s probably better than the assortment backups on the second half of this list."

Also on Monday, The Athletic's Mark Kaboly explained: 

"That Pickett received only third-string reps in OTAs and minicamp was downplayed. It’s not a good indication of what the Steelers’ plan is with their first-round pick, at least early in the season. You won’t hear that from the Steelers, but getting NFL-ready with limited first-team reps in camp and three preseason games won’t track for Pickett to start anytime soon." 

Across 17 career regular-season appearances, Rudolph has completed 236 of 384 passes (61.5%) for 2,366 yards with 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. It's unclear if any team would send even a late-round draft pick to Pittsburgh if the 26-year-old was made available.