Kenny Pickett, Mason Rudolph, and the quarterback position are going to dominate the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offseason chatter. I’m just warning you: you better get used to it now. It’s going to be the focal point of every significant Steelers segment in the national media. The local media will focus on it as well, and they have lately.
After Gerry Dulac reported that the Steelers have some “internal division” about who should start at quarterback, Tim Benz of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review followed up with his own sources. Accordingly, he expanded on the story just a little bit, but significantly.
“What I was told by a source is that ‘there is a contingent’ within the Steelers that believes the franchise doesn’t need to acquiesce to giving Kenny Pickett ‘another preferred chance’ to start after Rudolph ‘won over the locker room, particularly the wide receivers room’”, he wrote in his Monday First Call column.
None of this is groundbreaking, but it is significant. The Steelers never declared an “open” (that is to say, equal) quarterback competition in 2022. But that is how almost everybody perceived the competition, and what everybody actually wanted.
That year, following Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement, the Steelers signed veteran Mitch Trubisky and drafted Pickett in the first round. Rudolph was in his fifth season with the organization by that point. They already knew him rather well, so they evaluated him against a different standard from the newcomers.
Rudolph spent most of the summer taking second-team reps and logged first-team reps when Trubisky did not practice. Most now seem to believe that the Steelers primarily relegated him to third-string work, but actually Pickett worked there most. In fact, the day he began to take second-team reps received significant coverage as a big deal.
That was then, however, and this is now. Once again, the voices from on high are calling for competition. But once again, those voices are not calling it an open competition. Evidently, some in the building want to see a more equitable one this time around.
And it’s entirely reasonable, entirely more reasonable than last time. Neither Pickett nor Rudolph should have much of an advantage. Both will be starting fresh in a new offense. Both have a reasonable amount of starting experience. And both have won their share of games.
Statistically, and on the field, Rudolph simply played better last season, however. His accomplishments get exaggerated in some sectors, but that he showed a higher quality of play than Pickett in 2023 is not a subject for debate.
No doubt opinions in the locker room are divided, even if they may not be acrimonious. The wide receivers may hold some favoritism toward Rudolph because on the whole they produced better with him at quarterback. Yet even this angle is subject to exaggeration and even misrepresentation.
We do have to start with the obvious, however, which is re-signing Rudolph. Benz writes that his source knew nothing about the Steelers’ intentions or plans of re-signing him beyond their public remarks. I believe their public remarks, however, are sincere, genuine, and sufficient.
Ultimately, I expect Pickett and Rudolph will compete for the starting job this summer. I anticipate and hope that it is to some degree open and equitable. Certainly more so than the 2022 competition. That doesn’t mean they may not have a preferred victor, but as long as they judge the process fairly, it shouldn’t matter. Shouldn’t, mind you—not necessarily won’t. But there is a critical difference from last time: Mike Tomlin already sat a healthy Pickett behind Rudolph. For two critical, must-win games.
