The roles are clearly defined by this point, and it will be as such going forward.
There is no quarterback controversy for the Steelers heading into the 2023 season. The room will line up with Kenny Pickett as the starter, Mitch Trubisky as the backup, and Mason Rudolph as the third-stringer, as Omar Khan put the legwork in to lock in Trubisky for the next three seasons and Rudolph through the 2023 season over the last week.
And, with those roles clearly defined, that is a pretty sturdy boat for the Steelers to be sailing in.
Once again.
"We feel good about our quarterback room, so that was an important piece," Khan said Thursday on The Pat McAfee Show. "We've got, obviously, Kenny. Kenny Pickett's our starter and we feel really good about Mitch Trubisky and the role he's in, and we've added Mason Rudolph, so we're really excited about that QB room."
Discourse from around one year ago from this point was sharp. Was he rookie Pickett going to start in Week 1? Was Trubisky the guy until Pickett was "ready?" Ultimately, Trubisky was tasked with starting Weeks 1 through 4, until Mike Tomlin had seen enough from the veteran at halftime against the New York Jets.
From that point forward, and onward, Pickett was and is the guy.
With rising expectations.
"I expect him to kill it," Tomlin said Thursday on The Rich Eisen Show. "And I'll describe what I mean by that. It's his second lap around the track. He's no longer speculating in terms of what this business is about, what the job demands, what the challenges are, what the feel of the process is like whether it's getting ready for the season or getting ready for a week. He has all of that experience, and so I think it's reasonable for him to have significant growth in all areas with that understanding, to be more engaged in the process and have more of an opinion about the process, to lead more comfortably in his own voice because he has deeper relationships with his teammates.
"He's delivered for them some, and so credibility is there, so it's reasonable to feel that comfort. I'm just looking for him to take a significant step in all areas because he's in position to. He has experience, he's performed some, he has relationships, he's had some challenges. All of those things are platforms for growth, and aside from those things he loves it, he's a gym rat, he likes to work, he's communicative. He just has all of the intangible things that you'd expect from a guy at that position, but, really, at any position to take the step from Year 1 to Year 2."
Every bit of what Tomlin told Eisen is completely validated. The cherry on top of tangible, visible, and progressive improvements made by Pickett throughout the course of the season is the 7-2 record to close the 2022 season after a 2-6 start and a bye week.
(Of course, Pickett missed the Carolina game with a concussion, so, technically, he led them to a 6-2 record.)
Does that directly correlate with the clearly defined roles of having Pickett, Trubisky, and Rudolph filing out the quarterback room in that order, after Tomlin pulled Trubisky for Pickett in Week 4?
Maybe, maybe not. But, without question, the Steelers' offense -- one that Matt Williamson pointed out in his latest War Room as the youngest, on average, in the NFL last season -- benefitted from learning on the field together with their young quarterback.
From Week 4 until the bye week in Week 9, Pickett completed 67.9% of his passes for 962 yards (192.4 per game), two touchdowns, and eight interceptions for a 66.8 rating. He averaged 5.83 yards gained per passing attempt and was sacked 12 times in four and a half games of action.
Pickett picked up after the bye by completing 61.2% of his passes for 835 yards (167.0 per game), two touchdowns, and zero interceptions for an 85.3 rating. He was sacked 12 times in those five games, though he did start to stretch the field more by throwing for 6.47 yards per passing attempt.
That led into a concussion sustained after throwing just one pass against the Ravens, and he missed the following week against Carolina before picking up for the final three games of the season. In those three games, against Las Vegas, Baltimore, and Cleveland, Pickett completed 56.8% of his passes for 607 yards (202.3 per game), three touchdowns, and an interception for an 82.2 rating. He continued to renew confidence with throwing the ball downfield, as he averaged 6.39 yards per attempt over those final three games.
So, statistically speaking, Pickett experienced an up-and-down 2022, but Matt Canada began to cut him loose -- looser, at least -- as the season progressed and as Pickett became more comfortable with running the offense.
Growth is expected to continue for Pickett in 2023, as Tomlin stated, and that is the outward expectation coming from all angles.
"I think we can trick ourselves into saying, 'boy, Kenny really looks good. Boy, he really looks comfortable,'" Tomlin said. "I don't know that there's a significant difference. I don't know that we've faced enough challenges or done enough official business for that to be revealed at this point. But, we as coaches, man, we can trick ourselves all the time and lie to ourselves, like, 'Kenny's on it this week.' We just haven't been faced with enough challenges for me to really assess that at this juncture."
Pickett won't have to look over Trubisky's shoulder, nor will he have Trubisky breathing down his neck in 2023. Minimally Trubisky and Rudolph bring some form of stability along with necessary veteran knowledge behind Pickett. Remember, Trubisky is a former No. 2 overall pick, reached a Pro Bowl, and has won more games than he has lost (31-24) in his career. And, he's "only" 28.
Rudolph is "only" 27, and the former third-round pick brings 17 games of experience dating to the time he backed up Ben Roethlisberger to the current Steelers' third-string position.
The third-string position!
Bringing back Trubisky and Rudolph, even after the two evidently tested the free-agent market and discovered the grass isn't always greener, became forgone for Khan, Tomlin, and Co.
The outside topic of around whether Trubisky and Rudolph "should" have been brought back, and whether this is the "right" move for the Steelers is nuts to me. Just look at the top quarterbacks in the AFC and what's behind them.
In the AFC, Kansas City has Blaine Gabbert backing up Patrick Mahomes. Buffalo has Kyle Allen backing up Josh Allen. Cincinnati has Trevor Siemian backing up Joe Burrow. The Jets have Zach Wilson backing up Aaron Rodgers. Jacksonville has C.J. Beathard backing up Trevor Lawrence. The Chargers have Easton Stick backing up Justin Herbert.
That's just from looking at the contenders. Aside from Cincinnati in the AFC North, Baltimore has Tyler Huntley backing up Lamar Jackson, and Cleveland has Josh Dobbs backing up Deshaun Watson.
Would you rather have any (or many?) of those over Trubisky?
Depth at the quarterback position cannot be overvalued. Pull out all of the cliches to explain why.
Here is one: Trubisky is "one play away," and Rudolph is "one play away from being one play away" from playing real snaps in a real NFL game.
Trubisky is as good, if not better, as any in the AFC at being "one play away." Rudolph might be the best, right now, at being "one play away from being one play away," if you want to really dig into third-stringers in the AFC.
Pickett is one, Trubisky is two, and Rudolph is three. Now, tomorrow, in September, and -- Rudolph pending -- for the foreseeable future. The sophomore has a support system behind him, and with flashes shown in 2022, the esablished expectations can be comfortably desired in 2023.
"This guy wants to be great," Khan told McAfee about Pickett. "His work ethic is second to none."
