It’s been decades since there was a real quarterback battle on the Pittsburgh Steelers, but they have one now with veteran Mitchell Trubisky going against rookie first-round pick Kenny Pickett.
Ahead of Saturday’s preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has decided who will start. Speaking to the media on Thursday, Tomlin announced that Trubisky will get the start.
The move shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Trubisky has the requisite experience and has been getting the lion’s share of the first-team reps ever since he was brought on.
It may be more interesting to see how many reps Pickett gets after Trubisky’s day is done. Will the rookie first-rounder get a lot of time, or will he only get a few plays in before third-stringer Mason Rudolph takes over?
Mike Tomlin and the Steelers have been fortunate that Ben Roethlisberger was able to last for so long as the team’s starter. But the team opted not to invest in finding his successor before he was ready to call it a career.
The end result is a situation where the Steelers will have to go with either a veteran with a low ceiling, or a rookie who may not be ready for the rigors of the NFL immediately.
But the Steelers have a pretty good infrastructure in place to take away some of the hurdles that rookies and veterans on bad teams often face.
Which Steelers QB are you looking forward to seeing the most this week?