The Pittsburgh Steelers as a full squad took the field yesterday for the first time in 2022, for the first OTA practice session of the year. That included the debut for many new faces, but veterans and rookies alike, such as quarterback Mitch Trubisky and lineman Mason Cole, among the veterans.
Both of them worked the first-team offense, with Cole running at center, which he has said numerous times that that is his preferred position. And according to him and fellow lineman Kevin Dotson, it seems that for the coaching staff, Trubisky is the preferred quarterback option—for the time being.
“I think right now they’re rolling with him but it’s the middle of May, there’s a lot to figure out”, Cole said of Trubisky running the offense, as Mike Prisuta of WDVE and the team’s website Tweeted. “Jobs aren’t won right now so we’ll see in training camp but I think right now Mitch is the guy”.
OL Mason Cole confirmed Mitch Trubisky took first 11-on-11 QB snaps at OTA No. 1: “I think right now they’re rolling with him but it’s the middle of May, there’s a lot to figure out. Jobs aren’t won right now so we’ll see in training camp but I think right now Mitch is the guy.”
— Mike Prisuta (@DVEMike) May 24, 2022
Likewise, Dotson, entering his third season with the team since they drafted him in the fourth round in 2020, also read the situation as Trubisky being their first-team quarterback—again, at least for the time being, as plans can always change.
“I would say just for camp, but they pretty much said it already, that Mitch was the No. 1”, he said, again, from a Tweet that was shared by Prisuta. “The team, team-wise, they pretty much made that decision. That’s what I see”.
Kevin Dotson on the offensive line preparing to block for three potential starting QBs: “I would say just for camp, but they pretty much said it already, that Mitch was the No. 1. The team, team-wise, they pretty much made that decision. That’s what I see.”
— Mike Prisuta (@DVEMike) May 24, 2022
These are by far the most declarative comments that anybody from the team has made about the quarterback situation, with head coach Mike Tomlin being completely dismissive of any notion that any information can be gleaned about a competition on day one of OTAs.
Do they mean much? Probably not. They are observations made by two (presumably starting) offensive linemen about what they are seeing thus far from the quarterback position, perhaps combined with what they have been told, but what you see and hear in May can look very different from what happens in September.
Especially when you have a rookie in the mix. It would be entirely expected for Trubisky to be better prepared to run an offense than rookie first-round pick Kenny Pickett the first time he steps on an NFL practice field with veterans.
Still, the general assumption has been that Trubisky will likely begin the season as the starter, and at some point between then and the start of the 2023 season—literally anywhere in between—would eventually give way to the rookie.
Pickett is going to play at some point. They wouldn’t have drafted him if they weren’t 100 percent planning to play him. It doesn’t have to be as a rookie, though. And he certainly doesn’t have to be ‘QB1’ during OTA1.
