Steelers QB Mitch Trubisky: Where Does He Stack Up Against The Best To The Worst Quarterbacks In The NFL?

The Pittsburgh Steelers recently announced that they extended their backup quarterback Mitch Trubisky. Trubisky was signed by the Steelers in 2022 as a free agent. His extension appears generous as it is more than many other backups earn. That has led to the debate among fans of whether he deserves that and a conversation regarding where Trubisky stacks up against other quarterbacks in the league.

Trubisky competed for the starting job in training camp before the 2022 season and won over the then-rookie Kenny Pickett and longtime Steelers backup Mason Rudolph. 

On a recent episode of his podcast, The Arthur Moats Experience, former Steelers linebacker Arthur Moats and his co-host Eric "Deke" Deklaven debated where Trubisky falls in with the other quarterbacks in the league. they said they were trying to view this as skill only and not based off of perceived "value." The subject of quarterback contracts has been a controversial one in the NFL as more and more passers are setting records with their enormous paychecks. 

While Trubisky isn't setting any records, there are many who feel he is being paid too much as a backup. The Steelers and Trubisky agreed to an extension that helps alleviate some cap woes going into the 2023 season. His new contract will pay $19.65 million over three years, of that $8 million is guaranteed and $6.92 million is a signing bonus. This drops the cap hit from $10.65 million to only $4.6 million, while still paying Trubisky the same amount he was earning under his old contract. 

Where Does Mitch Trubisky Rank Against Other Starting Quarterbacks?

Deke said that he feels that Trubisky is better than several starting quarterbacks out there, so the Steelers are lucky to have him as a backup. 

"I honestly feel like he's better than five or six starters out there," says Deke. "Baker [Mayfield], Kyle Trask, Kyler Murray. I'd take Mitch over Sam Howell, Kirk Cousins."

The suggestion of Kirk Cousins makes Moats laugh, the two friends have an ongoing debate about Cousins and his abilities. Moats believes he is a solid quarterback who performs well and Deke feels he is completely overrated and overpaid. 

Deke says if you are going to consider contract amounts, then he would also put Trubisky ahead of Cousins. Moats says for the purpose of this discussion, they shouldn't consider contracts because they aren't necessarily equal to ability. 

"However, the reason why Kirk is paid what he's paid is because he produced how he produced. If Mitch produced like that, he'd get paid like that as well."

They both agree that you could make a case for Trubisky over the two prominent rookie quarterbacks coming in this year - C.J. Stroud and Bryce Young. They are both expected to start in 2023. This would only be for their rookie season, they both think in the long term, possibly prior to the end of the season, they will likely outproduce Trubisky. 

"Who else? Definitely Tua [Tagovailoa] and Danny Dimes [Daniel Jones]. He's overrated as hell. Even if you remove the contract, it is arguable in my opinion. I'd take Mitch over [Ryan] Tannehill." 

Moats strongly disagrees with this one saying that he sees Ryan Tannehill as a more athletic, but less passy version of Cousins. Deke also suggests that at this point, Trubisky might be better than Dak Prescott. Moats said he feels like Prescott might be getting judged unfairly because he plays for the Dallas Cowboys.   

"He's like the in-between guy, he kind of throws like Kirk, kinda athletic like Tannehill, but not a better passer than Kirk, not a better athlete than Tannehill. I kind of like him, but I kind of think he's watered down, but I don't know if that's because he plays for the Cowboys, does that make him feel bigger?"  

Deke points out that they just named seven or eight probable starters that Trubisky is better than. He also mentions that it is hard to judge them without judging contracts, the two are just so entangled. 

"Definitely with the contracts, I would take Trubisky over those guys. Trubisky over Dak, Trubisky over Cousins, Trubisky over Danny Dimes and Tannehill. I still think if you make the contracts equal, it's close and I'll leave with my guy." 

What do you think? Where do you think Trubisky fits in as compared to some of the quarterbacks that are expected to start this season? Click to comment below. 

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