Aug 12, 2022 4 min read

It was the quarterback competition that wasn’t – at least not for the No. 1 job.

After selecting Kenny Pickett in the first round of this year’s NFL Draft, Mike Tomlin said the rookie would get an opportunity to win the starting job for the Steelers from newcomer Mitch Trubisky and holdover Mason Rudolph.

As it turns out, Rudolph hasn’t even really been given a chance to win the starting job from Trubisky.

Tomlin announced Thursday that Trubisky will start the team’s preseason opener before giving way to Rudolph and then Pickett, which is largely the way things have been run throughout the offseason workouts and training camp.

A true quarterback competition, at least for the No. 1 job? This hasn’t been it.

So, does Rudolph, who has been the most consistent performer throughout training camp think he’s gotten a fair chance at winning the job?

“I know I’ve been given a shot,” Rudolph said, stressing the “a” in that reply when I asked him that question. “I’m trying to do everything I can to make it work. That’s all you can do. I don’t control the reps. I don’t control what goes on in the staff meetings every morning at 7:30. I control how I perform and my mentality and focus at 2 p.m.”

It’s difficult to manage a three-way battle in a quarterback competition, at least a true one. Rudolph has gotten a handful of snaps with the first-team offense, such as Wednesday when he went 4-for-4 in a two-minute drive, throwing a touchdown pass to exciting rookie George Pickens.

But those snaps have been few and far between. More common has been Rudolph rotating with Pickett with the second and third teams.

“I have tremendous faith in coach’s plan, how he’s handled this competition and massaged the reps here and there,” offensive coordinator Matt Canada said. “We’re talking about how guys look with the 2s versus the 3s. We’ve got a great plan mapped out and we’re going to methodically go through it and make sure we have the right guy ready to play when we’re ready to go.”

When I mentioned to Canada that there has been one quarterback who hasn’t taken any snaps with second or third teams beyond fourth-stringer Chris Oladokun, he just smiled. That quarterback would be Trubisky.

The Steelers have had Rudolph and Pickett trading off time between the second and third teams. But Trubisky has essentially taken all of his snaps with the first unit, though because of injuries, there have been some moving parts there.

This is the great quarterback competition that wasn’t – unless you consider the battle for the backup job a big competition.

• This is not to say Trubisky has been bad.

After a slow first week by both he and Pickett, I would have to classify the camps had by the Steelers’ quarterbacks as this: Trubisky has had the most high-level throws, Rudolph has been the most steady – he’s thrown just one interception – and Pickett has shown the most improvement.

• Pickens has been the star among the rookies, but undrafted running back Jaylen Warren hasn’t been far behind.

It seems every day Warren, a former Oklahoma State star, just makes another solid run.

• Getting Pickens in the second round of the draft is like getting two first-round draft picks. It’s akin to 2014 when the Steelers got Ryan Shazier in the first round and Stephon Tuitt in the second because Tuitt had been injured in his final season at Notre Dame.

Pickens had first-round talent. But he missed nearly all of last season with a torn ACL.

You wouldn’t know he was recovering from a torn ACL if you didn’t already know it. He cuts like a much smaller man and yet has no trouble using his 6-3 frame to either go up over defensive backs or shield them off so he can make the catch.

• Good luck to all of the teams participating in the Pony World Series, which began this weekend at Lew Hays Pony Field.

Tournaments Inc., has done a great job of turning this into an event of which the entire county can be proud. And kudos to Mark Murphy and his crew for the job they do getting that field ready to host an international event.