The Pittsburgh Steelers may be go with an unexpected choice for starting quarterback entering the 2022 season.
Shortly after the selection of Kenny Pickett with the No. 20 overall selection, head coach Mike Tomlin addressed the chances of his rookie quarterback beginning the season as the starting QB. Needless to say, he gave Pickett a good chance depending upon how his development turns out.
Via Ian Rapoport of NFL Network:
“Steelers coach Mike Tomlin on NFLNetwork is asked if Kenny Pickett has a chance to be his starter Week 1: ‘Yeah he certainly has a chance. … We felt he came ready made and hopefully that’s an asset to him being ready — if performance dictates,'” Rapoport reports.
Pickett’s Competition is Beatable
The Steelers brought in free agent signee Mitch Trubisky on a two-year, $14.3 million deal to compete with holdover Mason Rudolph for the starting QB job.
However, there’s clearly an open competition as Pittsburgh looks to fill their starting quarterback spot for the first time in 18 years following Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement.
Pickett was the only quarterback in the 2022 NFL draft selected in the first round. In the current era, when a quarterback is selected in the first round, they’re almost guaranteed to start during their rookie seasons.
In fact, three of the five rookie quarterbacks selected in last year’s first round began the season as the starting QB of their teams. The Chicago Bears‘ Justin Fields eventually emerged as the starter in Week 3 following an injury to Andy Dalton. The only QB selected in the first round who did not serve as a full-time starter for his team was the San Francisco 49ers’ Trey Lance.
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Why the Steelers Selected Pickett
Tomlin explained the Steelers went with Pickett — rather than the other highly-regarded QB prospect in Liberty’s Malik Willis — with their pick due to his pro-ready abilities.
“It was two things that really attracted us to him from a floor standpoint,” Tomlin explained. “We thought he had pro-level anticipation. We thought he had pro-level accuracy. Often times, those are two variables that really require a lot of adjustment from a quarterbacking standpoint. We felt he came ready-made in those ways. Hopefully that’s an asset to him in terms of being able to compete and being ready, if his performance dictates it.”
While Trubisky (sixth-year veteran) and Rudolph (fifth year in the Steelers’ system) certainly have an edge on Pickett when it comes to experience, neither quarterback has flashed much potential during the early parts of their careers.
Trubisky washed out after four seasons as a No. 2 pick with the Bears due to his much-criticized play. In fact, he never ranked in the top 10 in any major passing category during his four seasons as the Bears’ starting quarterback.
Rudolph was a third-round draft choice of the Steelers back in 2018 and was benched during his short stint as starter during the 2019 season. His 5-4-1 record and 80.9 quarterback rating doesn’t exactly give him much leeway in the competition for the starting QB job.
Considering Pickett will be 24 years old by the start of the season — he served as the Pittsburgh Panthers’ starting QB since the conclusion of the 2017 season — and the fact that he practiced at the same facility as the Steelers during his collegiate career, the transition shouldn’t be too difficult.
Due to being a rookie, Pickett may begin camp as the third-string quarterback. But by the end of training camp, it wouldn’t surprise anyone if he ends up emerging as the Steelers’ Week 1 starting quarterback.
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Steelers’ Mike Tomlin Hints at Potential Starting QB in Week 1