The Pittsburgh Steelers begin training camp in Latrobe, Pennsylvania next week. There will be a lot of competition and plenty to keep an eye on, but the biggest talking point has been the quarterback situation. Steelers NFL beat writer for The Athletic, Mark Kaboly joined 93.7 The Fan to discuss the signal-caller position. He believes rookie quarterback, Kenny Pickett has a lot in front of him and a huge opportunity come next week.
"I think he has the best shot of anybody to lift himself into a position where he can start," said Kaboly.
What is going to be crucial for Pickett is getting as maybe reps as Mitch Trubisky and not sitting behind Mason Rudolph throughout training camp.
"It's going to be tough, but they're going to have to give the opportunity here because you know how training camp works and how they divvy up the reps. It's usually five or six for the starter, five or six for the number two guy during team drills, then they'll give three or two to the third and fourth guy," said Kaboly. "You can't have Kenny Pickett taking two snaps per team period during training camp, even if it's Week 1. Sometimes, they truncate it when the third guy doesn't get anything."
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterbacks participate in Organized Team Activities (OTA's) Thursday May 26, 2022 at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. (Abigail Dean/Pittsburgh Steelers)
Kaboly believes that if Pickett does want a shot at starting right away or sooner than later, training camp will be pivotal.
"They're going to have to move him up to where he wasn't in OTA's. When he does that, maybe he's ready, maybe he shows them something, but I still think it's a long shot of him starting the season as the starter, but I think he has the ability and the chance to be able to elevate himself more than probably anyone else on that team during camp."
History, however, isn't in Pickett's favor, especially with an experienced guy like Trubisky in front of him on the depth chart. He was asked if he outperforms Trubisky during the preseason, if he could potentially be QB1 for the Steelers in the team's Week 1 match up against the Cincinnati Bengals.
"I don't think it's going to make a difference. You look at the recent history, even from the CBA back in 2011 and even the last 20, 25 years, you don't see a ton of players who are first round quarterbacks getting the opening day job regardless of where they were drafted, let alone 20th overall. Eventually they make it into the lineup that first year, whether it's Week 3, 4."
Steelers first round QB Kenny Pickett drops back in minicamp. (Karl Roser/Pittsburgh Steelers)
While the 21st century has seen rookie quarterbacks start within the first couple months and some are comparing Pickett to Ben Roethlisberger, Kaboly still isn't sold on the idea of Pickett starting too soon for the Steelers.
"I think it's going to be very difficult for him to break in this early, but I could see the first month in a season or month in a half, where he could work his way into it. But, I think that also has to coincide with him playing well in the preseason and in practice along with Trubisky really struggling for them to make that switch. There's going to have to be a reason other than Kenny is outplaying Mitch in practice."
There have been many analysts, writers and fans throughout the league that are commenting on the Steelers quarterback situation, but Kaboly has covered the organization since 2002 and has a pretty good idea of how things operate on the inside.
Do you think that Trubisky would have to fail miserably to lose the job? Or is this a closer competition than we think? Let us know in the comments below!
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