Guess what, folks. It’s training camp time. And that means it’s time for training camp questions. For the first time since 2019, the Pittsburgh Steelers are actually back at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe after having been forced to remain in Pittsburgh, where they held their past two training camps inside of the Field Formerly Known as Heinz.
Even though the Steelers are back on very familiar ground, more specifically on that of Chuck Noll Field, this is a training camp that is unusually full of certainty. After all, they haven’t had a genuine quarterback battle in a couple of decades, but they have one now with Mitch Trubisky, Kenny Pickett, and Mason Rudolph.
We’ve got yet another new offensive line, with some incoming veterans in James Daniels and Mason Cole. Myles Jack is in at inside linebacker, replacing Joe Schobert, and we’ll have to see if Devin Bush can return to form after last year’s dismal display.
There’s still so much going on, and training camp will only create more questions as we go along, even as it starts to provide some answers. We’ll be covering them here on a daily basis for the community to “talk amongst yourselves”, as Linda Richman might say on Coffee Talk.
Question: Is there enough time for Mitch Trubisky to be surpassed as the starting quarterback by the opener?
We’ve been told all along by the coaching staff that the quarterback competition is an open one. Sources external to the team have suggested that it’s basically Mitch Trubisky’s job to lose as long as he doesn’t fall completely on his face.
He certainly didn’t do that in the first preseason game, but both Mason Rudolph and Kenny Pickett did some nice things as well. It was a game in which, if you went in assuming that Trubisky is your starter, then he still is.
But there’s still some weeks remaining before any real football has to be played. Head coach Mike Tomlin hasn’t publicly stated any kind of deadline as to when he will announce a starter—in fact, now that I think about it, he might try not to until kickoff in week one.
The ultimate question is simple. Is there enough time for Rudolph or Pickett to make enough of a push to overtake Trubisky as the starter in a scenario in which Trubisky doesn’t just fall apart? What would they have to do, from now until the start of the season, to be the man under center?
Pickett got some first-team reps yesterday, even though Tomlin would say that that was all part of the plan and not a direct reflection on his showing in the first preseason game. Ultimately, he was drafted to start. What if he looks ready to start in September? Does he start? Does he even dress? Omar Khan basically shot down rumors they were looking to trade any of their quarterbacks—but they also said Martavis Bryant wasn’t going to be traded.
