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90 In 30: Steelers 2022 Training Camp Preview Series: Cameron Sutton, Mitch Trubisky, Jordan Tucker

By Dave Bryan

Posted on July 7, 2022 at 11:30 am

The Pittsburgh Steelers 2022 offseason practices concluded last week, and next up for the team is their annual training camp, which should get underway in the latter part of July at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe. Ahead of Steelers’ training camp getting underway, we will preview the team’s offseason roster three players at a time for you as part of a 30-post series. This Steelers’ roster preview, which includes outlooks for each player, will be done alphabetically by last name to make it easy to follow along with.

The next three players we will preview ahead of Steelers training camp are Cameron Sutton, Mitch Trubisky, and Jordan Tucker.

CB Cameron Sutton: 2021 was Sutton’s fifth NFL season since being selected in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Steelers. In total, Sutton registered 52 total tackles in 2021 with four resulting in lost yardage. He also recorded two interceptions, six defensed passes and a forced fumble last season. He missed one game due to a groin injury on his way to playing 1,089 total defensive snaps during the regular season and 101 more on special teams. In the team’s playoff loss last season, Sutton had five total tackles with one for a loss in 64 snaps played on defense and six others on special teams. Nearly 800 of his total snaps played in 2021 came at an outside cornerback position. He’s globally considered a marginal player overall entering 2022, however.

Outlook: Sutton is expected to be one of the Steelers two starting cornerbacks again in 2022 and the hope is that he can garner a few more takeaways than he had in 2021. Sutton is an incredibly smart defensive player and perhaps the most vocal player the unit has on that side of the football. While not the defensive captain, Sutton’s a quarterback of sorts on defense. The Steelers did re-sign cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon during the offseason in addition to signing free agent cornerback Levi Wallace. Both players are best-suited to play on the outside which means Sutton might be tasked with playing up to a third of his total defensive snaps in 2022 as a slot cornerback in sub packages. 2022 is a big season for Sutton as his current contract is set to void in 2023. Him registering his best season to date in 2022 could result in him landing a very lucrative contract in 2023 with it possibly coming from the Steelers.

QB Mitch Trubisky: The Steelers signed Trubisky to a two-year, $14.285 million contract early in free agency this offseason and that deal includes incentives that the former first round draft pick can earn. Last year, Trubisky signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract with the Bills after playing his first four seasons in the NFL with the Chicago Bears. With the Bills last season, the North Carolina product played just 33 total offensive snaps on his way to completing six of his eight total pass attempts for 43 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. As a member of the Bears for four seasons and after being the second overall selection in the 2017 NFL Draft, Trubisky was 29-21 as a starter. He completed 1,016 of his 1,585 total pass attempts for 10,652 yards with 64 touchdowns and 38 interceptions.

Outlook: After signing Trubisky early in the offseason, the Steelers then preceded to select quarterback Kenny Pickett in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft and at some point, the hope is that he’ll become the team’s longtime franchise quarterback. As Pickett’s grooming begins, Trubisky is expected to be the Steelers starting quarterback in 2022. How long he keeps that job will depend on how he plays and if the Steelers are still playoff viable. Offensive coordinator Matt Canada will look to tailor the offense around the running game first and then around Trubisky’s strengths, which includes moving outside the pocket. Last season with the Bills supposedly did Trubisky good and we’ll find out quickly in the Steelers first six games of 2022 if he has a chance at staying the starting quarterback long past the team’s bye week. For the Steelers to make the playoffs in 2022, Trubisky will obviously need to play well and more than anything else, take care of the football and get touchdowns more times than not whenever the offense is inside the red zone. It won’t be shocking, however, if Trubisky finds himself on the sideline watching Pickett play at some point in November.

T Jordan Tucker: The Steelers made Tucker one of their ten original undrafted signings this spring and they gave the North Carolina product a signing bonus of $15,000, which was the most given to an undrafted Pittsburgh player this year. Tucker, who measured in at his 2022 pro day at 6062, 344-pounds, started 36 games during his college career, with most of them coming as a right tackle and in his last three seasons at North Carolina. During the three-year stretch that Tucker played right tackle, the North Carolina offense finished in the top three in the ACC in total yards per game, and that includes a school-record 537.3 yards per game in 2020 that led the ACC and was fifth overall in the NCAA.

Outlook: The Steelers did not select a tackle in the 2022 NFL Draft so that somewhat plays into Tucker’s favor this summer. Even so, he is not a lock to make the 53-man roster come Week 1 and even if the team keeps nine total offensive linemen in total. Currently, the Steelers two starting tackles are set to be Dan Moore Jr. and Chukwuma Okorafor. Additionally, there’s a good chance that Joe Haeg will be kept around one more season to be the first tackle off the bench. The Steelers also have experienced tackles Chaz Green and Trent Scott under contract this summer in addition to another undrafted rookie in Jake Dixon. Tucker would need beat out at least those last three players listed to garner a 53-man roster spot this summer. That’s not unthinkable. Should, however, Tucker fail to make the Week 1 roster, there’s a good chance he might be part of the team’s initial practice squad.

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