There's no secret about the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback room. There's a wide open competition between veteran free agent signee, Mitch Trubisky, incumbent veteran, Mason Rudolph, and first round rookie, Kenny Pickett. The Steelers quarterback competition will most likely crown a winner as close to the regular season as possible to give every quarterback ample opportunity to earn the spot.
One thing is for sure, the offense will be heavily reliant on stellar second year running back, Najee Harris. That's a key to success for the Steelers offense in the upcoming 2022 season. It'll make it easier on whoever is at the QB1 spot to run the ball early and often in games this season. He's poised for a huge second year!
PITTSBURGH, PA - MAY 24: Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mitchell Trubisky (10), running back Najee Harris (22), quarterback Kenny Pickett (8), and quarterback Chris Oladokun (5) take part in a drill during the team's OTA practice, Tuesday, May 24, 2022, in Pittsburgh, PA. (Photo by Brandon Sloter/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
In a recent interview via NFL.com, Harris sat down with former Steelers' offensive lineman and current team reporter, Max Starks, to discuss his first training camp experience in Latrobe and the current quarterback competition in the Steel City.
"The experience has been good man, like you said, it's my first time out here in Latrobe," Harris stated in the interview. "We're in the dorms, so I'm going back to college, but it's cool man. You know, the fan base we have is unreal; it's always a good turnout rain or shine. We always have a good fan base here. Today, on Saturday, it was about five or six thousand." Stark interjected and said the team sold 15,000 tickets. "Woah, along those lines, there was many people here," Harris said with a smirk.
Harris referenced the teams that have came to Latrobe before him and the tradition of building team camaraderie.
"It's good for me to be a part of the tradition." Harris continued.
Pittsburgh Steelers running back, Najee Harris (#22) looks on at training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA on July 28, 2022. | Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO
Starks then asked Harris about the quarterback competition and how the quarterbacks have been.
"Well, I think it's a good competition like you said, because you know 7 [Ben Roethlisberger] is gone," Harris answered. "But for that spot to be vacant right now, and you know people's competing and like I said, I said it before, competition brings out the best in everybody. So, for these people to come in and compete, when we put our pads on and people start flying, we're going to see which guy is there. And you know, which guys are the guys that start, and it'll all fall in place. So, I'm excited for them, I'm just more excited about, you know, the first game and you know, how we're building a good camaraderie on the team."
Starks closed out the interview with connecting what Harris said to a certain Mike Tomlin "Tomlinism."
"Absolutely, well, as Coach Tomlin likes to say, 'Iron sharpens iron.'"
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach, Mike Tomlin looks on during training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA in July 2022. | Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO
Iron will continue to sharpen iron as this three-way quarterback competition continues the rest of training camp and into the preseason!
What are yinz thoughts on Harris' comments in the interview with Starks? Sound off in the comment section below, or on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram!
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