The Pittsburgh Steelers are entering the season with uncertainty under center. It’s an unusual position for the franchise that had Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback for nearly two decades.
Now, the Steelers face an uphill battle in a tough AFC North division. There’s a quarterback battle between veteran Mitch Trubisky and rookie Kenny Pickett in training camp with the decision coming down to the wire.
Colin Dunlap and Adam Crowley discussed the Steelers' quarterback situation on Audacy's "Fourth Down in the Steel City" podcast.
“The question that they look at internally is who gives us the best chance to win this game? And, for me, we as fans, and some media, go down all these different side roads,” Dunlap said (2:10 in player above) “I don’t think the Steelers ever veer from that main highway.”
“They don’t veer from that from an organizational standpoint,” Crowley replied. “When they’re planning for what they want to do in an offseason, I don’t necessarily think that they all that often look at the forest through the trees. It’s why they’ll never tank because they just don’t believe in that.”
The Steelers finished .500 or better in every season since 2003 when they went 6-10. They've made the playoffs less often recently with no postseason victories since 2016, but they've always been in the mix.
“If it were me, if I were Mike Tomlin, if I were Omar Khan, I think Kenny Pickett is ready to be the starting quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers. I can’t explain it. He’s just got it. He just does,” Crowley said. “He’s got that clutch gene, as they say, but if it were me, I think you can thwart a quarterback’s development by playing him behind a horrendous offensive line when he’s still getting his feet wet.”
Trubisky started 50 games for the Bears from 2017 to 2020, compiling a 29-21 record in that span. He then spent two seasons as the backup in Buffalo before signing with the Steelers in March.
A month later, the Steelers selected Kenny Pickett with the 20th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Pickett has experience under center in Pittsburgh – at the University of Pittsburgh – and he is hoping that can translate to success at the NFL level.
“Even though I feel like Kenny Pickett is ready to be a starter right now – and I do –, I’ll also agree with you, Colin, that I think Mitch Trubisky gives them the best chance to win. Because if one guy is more apt to get it done behind a bad offensive line, it’s gonna be a guy who’s stood back there and read NFL defenses before, a
Crowley mentioned that Trubisky showed that over the weekend against the Jaguars. Although he missed a big play down the field to Diontae Johnson, it would’ve been a sack – or worse – if Trubisky didn’t shrug off a couple of tacklers.
“I think there’s some truth in both things,” Crowley continued. “They don’t look at it ‘Kenny Pickett can’t play because this is such a bad offensive line.’ They don’t look at it that way, I do, but I also do think that Mitch Trubisky does give them the best chance to win and I think it’s probably hard to argue otherwise.”
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