The Steelers have had a free agency unlike anyone’s used to. They’ve now made six signings of guys outside of the organization, with two of those coming from the Bills.
Cornerback Levi Wallace and quarterback Mitch Trubisky both spent the past season in the AFC East in Buffalo, and each of them figure to be a large part of the team’s plans in 2022. In an interview with Mike Prisuta of Steelers.com, Wallace had nothing but good things to say about Trubisky.
“Mitch didn’t play too much behind Josh Allen, but when he did, he was one of those guys we just knew we could trust. He came to work, prepared each and every week. On and off the field, [he’s] just one of the best dudes. A lot of people just saw him as a backup quarterback, but he was also a leader right there with Josh and he helped our team get to where we got to last year in more ways than one.”
It was the first season of Trubisky’s career that he wasn’t the starting quarterback. Entering his sixth season now, last season was a good reset for him. Trubisky was able to sit back and learn from one of the league’s best.
Wallace also praised another aspect of Trubisky’s game.
“Mitch is first of all, a great athlete, and two, he took scout team seriously each and every week,” Wallace said in the interview via the Steelers website. “It was hard to get interceptions on him in practice because he’s gonna throw it to the right person, and he’s gonna make it fit in. He pays attention to details so well.”
Wallace is just the latest to praise Trubisky’s athleticism, as well as his leadership. Those are two core attributes that the Steelers were looking for in their next quarterback after Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement.
Athleticism was key with the NFL quarterbacks continuing to trend in that direction. Additionally, the Steelers have a leadership void on offense with Roethlisberger gone. Certainly, Trubisky will contribute to both of those elements.
In his introductory press conference, James Daniels discussed just how good of a leader Trubisky is. A few days before that, Josh Allen tabbed Trubisky as an ‘athlete’. Rave reviews from around the league likely helped lead the Steelers to picking him as (one of) their free agent quarterback target(s).
Now Trubisky isn’t exactly Sharpie’d in as the starting quarterback, especially with the continued rumors of the Steelers’ admiration for Malik Willis. Mason Rudolph and Dwayne Haskins have some ground to make up, but they still have an opportunity to prove themselves. For now though, Trubisky is the presumed starting quarterback for 2022, and his aforementioned qualities help his case greatly.
