In a little under two weeks, the Pittsburgh Steelers will take to Chuck Noll Field at St. Vincent College in Latrobe aiming to shape a promising future for the 2022 version of the team.
There, the Steelers will find themselves dealing with a big competition for the starting job under center between veteran free agent signee Mitch Trubisky, fifth-year quarterback Mason Rudolph, and rookie first-round draft pick Kenny Pickett.
Though the Steelers are pushing it as a true quarterback competition, ESPN’s Adam Schefter — appearing on ESPN’s NFL Live Friday afternoon — reported that from everything he’s heard from those around the organization, Trubisky is the clear front-runner for the starting job, which is his to lose just weeks out from the start of training camp.
“…I think if you watch the team or talk to the people who are around the team during OTAs, they felt like Mitchell Trubisky really made his mark and stood out there,” Schefter said on NFL Live Friday, according to video via ESPN’s official YouTube page. “And I think right now going into camp, he is the favorite to become the starting quarterback. He is in position right now to start on opening day and be the starting quarterback this season. And they could take their time with Kenny Pickett and work with ball security and work with some of the things that come along with being acclimated during a quarterback’s rookie year.
“But Mitch Trubisky, I think, really shined during the OTAs, according to the people around the team. And I think that they’re looking for some pretty big things from him this upcoming season.”
That certainly shouldn’t come as a surprise or any sort of revelation from Schefter overall. He was signed with the Intent of starting him in 2022 as he’s a good fit overall in second-year offensive coordinator Matt Canada’s system overall. Schefter stating that Trubisky “made his mark” and “shined” this offseason raises some eyebrows though.
Trying to draw much of anything from OTAs or minicamp is a real stretch, one way or another, so it’s a bit reckless to state that he shined, impressed, etc. during the offseason. It’s certainly great to hear, don’t get me wrong, but it was football in shorts with no pass rush coming at him.
There’s no doubt he certainly made an impact in the locker room as a leader of a young offense, taking charge of the group overall. That’s certainly given him a leg up in the competition, not to mention the amount of first-team reps he’s garnered compared to Rudolph and Pickett throughout the offseason.
Entering training camp in a few weeks, it’s undoubtedly Trubisky’s job to lose. It’s playing out just like the Steelers envisioned after signing him on the first day of the legal tampering period in free agency in mid-March.
