Steelers find comfort, stability in keeping QB room together
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Heading into the 2022 offseason, of all the permutations that could’ve aligned for the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback room in 2023, the least likely appeared to be that it would come back in full.
One thing was clear. Kenny Pickett was going to be locked in as the starter after the 2022 first-round pick showed growth at the position as the year moved along.
Backup Mitch Trubisky was under contract for the upcoming year. But after being quickly displaced as the starter in the fall, some wondered if he’d be traded.
And Mason Rudolph, who had 17 games of experience between 2019-21 before getting relegated to third string, appeared destined to leave via free agency for, well, anywhere but Pittsburgh.
But by the time practices began this spring, Trubisky either never asked for or was never granted a trade. And Rudolph never found a better situation than returning to the Steelers.
So all three men were back in those same roles. Much to the approval of quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan.
“We’re very fortunate to have all three guys here. They get along so well. There’s a camaraderie. You see it in the meeting room. You see it in the walkthroughs and certainly saw it on game day,” Sullivan said during a recent
After 2022 ended without taking a snap, Rudolph searched for a clearer path toward competing for playing time. But in the final analysis, he was still looking for work as minicamp loomed and felt returning to a system he already knew was the way to go.
Even if that means third-string reps.
“Tape is your walking, talking and breathing and resume as (head coach Mike Tomlin) says. I’ve only started two games in the last three years. So, not a lot of tape. I knew that it would probably be a strike against me,” Rudolph said during during Tuesday’s “Letters from Camp” podcast. “I did have some opportunities. But at that stage in the game it was mid-May. Do I want to go somewhere else and be behind the eight ball from a learning standpoint? Learning on the run going to training camp where most of the backup jobs are sort of solidified? Or do I want to go back to a place I know the offense, have a good preseason and control the controllables and move on? So that’s what I chose to do.”
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Rudolph also found comfort in working with Pickett and Trubisky during the 2022 season.
“It’s probably the most fun I had in the quarterback room thus far in my career. So, yeah, that was a factor,” Rudolph said of his decision to stay in Pittsburgh. “Knowing the offense. The comfortability of this place. Anytime, wouldn’t you want to go to work with somebody that you enjoy spending time with? I think we all would. That played into it.”
In the case of Trubisky, the conversation is rarely framed this way by optimistic Steelers fans encouraged by the trajectory of Pickett’s first year, but he was probably wise to play out the second year of his contract in Pittsburgh.
Right now, he is backing up a second-year QB who is entering his first season as a full-time starter, who may or may not be able to handle an expanded passing menu, and has already missed part of, or all of, three games with concussion concerns.
It’s entirely possible Trubisky could see extended playing time in Pittsburgh again this year if Pickett doesn’t take the second-year leap the organization is hoping to see or if the former Pitt standout gets hurt again.
If Trubisky had squawked for a trade or asked for a release, there’s no guarantee he would’ve wound up as a starter with a new team. And even if he had gotten the starting job elsewhere, wouldn’t it have been a similarly tenuous hold to what he had on the No. 1 job here in 2022?
With that logic, Trubisky seems content to have returned for another training camp at Saint Vincent College.
“Depth is important. We saw a record amount of quarterbacks play last year. So you’ve got to have guys that can play,” Trubisky said at the outset of training camp. “It’s a next-man-up mentality. Whatever happens, everybody on this team has got to be ready. I like the depth in the quarterback room. I like the depth across the board on our team.”
Fans need look no further than Joe Burrow’s calf injury scare early in camp for the Cincinnati Bengals or how the NFC Championship Game wrapped up for the San Francisco 49ers to see the importance of QB depth.
For his part, Pickett strongly endorsed the idea of keeping the QB room together when the team reconvened for practices in the spring.
“It’s crazy how much time we spend together,” Pickett said during OTAs. “We got really close over just one year. So, to have both of those guys back, it’s awesome. It’s a special group.”
Now, making the offense special regardless of who is under center is the next challenge.
Based on last year’s offensive output, it’ll be a big one.