Even if second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett is able to return in Week 16 against the Cincinnati Bengals, veteran Mason Rudolph has moved ahead of former starting quarterback Mitch Trubisky on the depth chart, moving into the backup role on the latest depth chart released by the team Monday night.
Rudolph, who is expected to start Saturday against the Bengals at Acrisure Stadium, surpassed Trubisky for the backup job, pushing Trubisky into the No. 3 role and likely into the gameday No. 3 emergency quarterback role, too, which Rudolph held down for most of the season.
After pulling the plug on Trubisky as the starter in the fourth quarter last week against the Indianapolis Colts, the Steelers are seemingly moving as far away as possible from him seeing the field, slotting him behind Rudolph on the depth chart.
Trubisky previously was the backup to Pickett and stepped into the lineup throughout the season when Pickett went down with injuries on the road against Houston, and at home against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Arizona Cardinals. Then, Trubisky started Week 14 against the New England Patriots on Thursday Night Football, and then on Saturday in Week 15 at Indianapolis.
He was 0-2 as the starter and was plagued by turnovers when he saw the field. On just 107 passing attempts this season, Trubisky has thrown five interceptions, which is a 4.7% interception rate. That rate is one of the worst in the NFL among passers with more than 100 attempts on the season, including the likes of Cleveland’s P.J. Walker, Chicago undrafted free agent Tyson Bagent, and Las Vegas’ Jimmy Garoppolo.
The turnovers and poor decision making ultimately did in the Trubisky stint in Pittsburgh this season as the Steelers simply couldn’t overcome the mistakes and overzealous aggressiveness from the veteran quarterback.
Enter Rudolph.
The veteran hasn’t started a game for the Steelers since the 2021 season against the Detroit Lions, a game he found out he was starting that morning after former quarterback Ben Roethlisberger went into COVID protocol. Rudolph and the Steelers tied the Lions that day. That was the last regular-season game action he’s seen in the NFL until getting a few snaps late against the Colts.
Should Pickett return to the lineup and start against the Bengals, Rudolph would be the backup and would be one snap away from seeing the field, a change in the position he’s held down most of the season as a break-in-case-of-emergency quarterback dressed under the league’s new emergency QB rule.
