It’s pretty much official. Free-agent signing Mitchell Trubisky will likely be the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Week 1 starting quarterback against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has yet to name a starter between Trubisky and rookie first-round pick Kenny Pickett. With that said, the veteran was named one of Pittsburgh’s team captains on Monday. He was also listed as QB1 on the official game-week depth chart. Interestingly enough, Pickett found himself as No. 3 behind Mason Rudolph.
Things certainly seem to be trending in the direction of Trubisky, a top-two pick of the Chicago Bears back in 2017, starting in his Steelers debut. Pittsburgh signed the former North Carolina standout to a two-year, $14.29 million contract this past spring. The idea was for him to replace the recently-retired Ben Roethlisberger under center. However, a strong preseason performance from Pickett seemed to change the dynamics some.
As for being named team captain, Trubisky made it clear that this doesn’t mean he will be the starter come Sunday afternoon in Ohio.
“You can assume anything you want. I mean, nah, the announcement will come out when it needs to come out, but you’re not gonna hear from me. And we just go about our business.”
Mitchell Trubisky on being named Pittsburgh Steelers captain
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Mitchell Trubisky likely to be given short leash
Tomlin will hold a press conference on Tuesday. At that point, it’s highly likely that he will officially name Trubisky Pittsburgh’s starting quarterback. The question here is just how long of a leash Trubisky will have out of the gate.
The preseason isn’t typically much of an indicator. But when it comes to a starting quarterback competition, we do need to take statistics into account. Both Trubisky and Pickett played darn well for the steelers.
Kenny Pickett stats (2022 preseason): 29-of-36 passing, 261 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT, 124.7 QB rating
Mitchell Trubisky stats (2022 preseason): 24-of-34 passing, 283 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT, 115.2 QB rating
A lot of what happens here will depend on Pittsburgh’s early-season performance with Trubisky under center. In addition to opening the campaign against the defending conference champion Bengals, these Steelers will be taking on the New England Patriots and Cleveland Browns to close up shop on September.
As for Trubisky, he’s highly confident in his ability to lead the team despite being given the bust label during his five-year run in Chicago and throwing a mere eight passes for the Buffalo Bills last season.
“I think I have [shown leadership]. Just how I carry myself every day, what I’ve done on the practice field. Would like to do more last game obviously, but hopefully, get another opportunity this week to show why I should be [the starters]. It’s your whole body of work. Everything I’ve done in my career up to this point — what I’ve done in minicamp, the practices at Latrobe, and the preseason games.”
Mitchell Trubisky back in August