Wednesday, Pittsburgh Steelers outgoing general manager, Kevin Colbert joined The Cook & Joe Show where he spoke to several questions from the radio team regarding the current state of the Steelers' franchise. One of those questions included Colbert's thoughts about the upcoming quarterback competition in Pittsburgh.
In early March of 2022, the Steelers acquired quarterback Mitch Trubisky via free agency, and followed that up with drafting Pitt quarterback, Kenny Pickett in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft. Along with seventh round draft pick, Chris Oladokun, and four-year veteran, Mason Rudolph, the Steelers have set themselves up for possibly the best starting quarterback competition in Pittsburgh ever. It'll at the very least be the first real battle for the position in the last 18 years since drafting future Hall of Famer and recently retired, Ben Roethlisberger.
The Steelers selected QB Ben Roethlisberger in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft (#11 overall).
Kevin Colbert initiates the team's plan at quarterback for 2022
When asked how Colbert dealt with telling Trubisky and the rest of the team that the front office was going to draft a quarterback, this is what Colbert had to say:
"Yeah, everybody was aware, of course, what Coach [Mike Tomlin] and I were doing throughout the spring and we had interacted with Mitch [Trubisky], with Mason [Rudolph], and they understood what we were doing and why we were doing it. And in Mitch Trubisky, we have a young starting quarterback with playoff experience. In Mason Rudolph, we have someone that's familiar with the system that has started and has won games for us. So when you add Kenny [Pickett] into the mix, we got three young quarterbacks that are going to provide great competition and they all understand and accept it. I can't say they're not upset because I'm sure they're going to hide their emotions and try to play their emotions out on the field. But we're excited. When you're trying to replace a Hall of Fame quarterback like Ben [Roethlisberger], you better have more than one option. And I think we do with these three guys that we got. And then, of course, we throw in another quarterback with Chris Oladokun in the 7th round just to have four young quarterbacks that are going to compete for starting positions, depth positions and roster spots. So I think it's exciting."
Of course the narrative throughout the entire league over the last several months was that this year's quarterback draft class was significantly "weaker" than in year's past. When asked about ultimately whose opinion mattered the most within the Steelers' organization in terms of choosing a quarterback, if any, and how much weight that decision held versus the opinions of the rest of the team's in the NFL, Colbert responded with this:
"Yeah, I mean, it's our opinion always. And again, we started this process early in last spring. At that time, we understood we're probably entering Ben's [Roethlisberger's] last season. We map out our scouting schedules. We saw all these players, all these quarterbacks play live at least three times between myself and the scouts and the directors. Of course, we get into the Senior Bowl evaluations when the coaches are available to help and of course, the Pro Days. So we just felt comfortable. There are 32 starting jobs in this league and this group, there'll be starters coming out of it. I don't have any question about that. I can't say why teams didn't take them. If they took them later and they took other players, good for them, it worked out. But I think this class over time will be that group, that there'll be several starters come out of it. But again, we were just so happy that we got the one that we felt was the best."
Listen to the full interview here:
So what do yinz think? Which quarterback on the current roster gives this team the best chance to win in 2022? Who will be the starter come Week 1 in September? Click to comment below!
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