- By Mike Wilson
- mwilson@profootballtechs.com
I am going to start off stating that Mitch Trubisky has now started/played in 3 games. The other QBs, except for Jacoby Brissett, ahead of him in stats have only started/played in 1 or 2 games.
Trubisky ranks #9 overall in passing yards (569), #33 in yards/attempt (5.5), tied for #18 with 2 TDs, and #30 in QB Rating (77.7). The Steelers have now only produced 4 offensive TDs in 3 games. To make matters worse, Trubisky “is on pace for the NFL’s worst yards per attempt in a decade”.
Trubisky has also been on the fortunate side of some spectacular catches by Johnson (vs the Bengals) and Pickens (vs the Browns).
At this point it doesn’t appear that Mike Tomlin is considering replacing Trubisky.
If Trubisky has another average at best start vs the NY Jets in week 4, then the Steelers might be forced to make a QB change sometime from week 5 through week 8 (Bills, Buccaneers, Dolphins, and Eagles). We will take a look at their options below.
Kenny Pickett – The Rookie
I honestly feel that if the Steelers were going to use Pickett, the best option would be the week 4 matchup vs the Jets. Give him the extra practice time now with the starters to build up some confidence with the receivers for the Jets game. This would give a chance for the Steelers to see what they have with the 2022 1st rounder in real live action. This is also my choice for the Steelers. Here are some stats of how some rookie QBs have faired in their debuts:
| Player | Debut | Comp-Att | Yards | TDs | INTs | QB rating |
| Matt Ryan | 2008 | 9-13 | 161 | 1 | 0 | 137 |
| Matthew Stafford | 2009 | 16-37 | 205 | 0 | 3 | 27.4 |
| Sam Bradford | 2010 | 32-55 | 253 | 1 | 3 | 53.1 |
| Cam Newton | 2011 | 24-37 | 422 | 2 | 1 | 110.4 |
| Andrew Luck | 2012 | 23-45 | 309 | 1 | 3 | 52.9 |
| Robert Griffin III | 2012 | 19-26 | 320 | 2 | 0 | 139.9 |
| Ryan Tannehill | 2012 | 20-36 | 219 | 0 | 3 | 39.0 |
| Jameis Winston | 2015 | 16-33 | 210 | 2 | 2 | 64.0 |
| Marcus Mariota | 2015 | 13-15 | 209 | 4 | 0 | 158.3 |
| Carson Wentz | 2016 | 22-37 | 278 | 2 | 0 | 101.0 |
| Sam Darnold | 2018 | 16-21 | 198 | 2 | 1 | 116.8 |
| Kyler Murray | 2019 | 29-54 | 308 | 2 | 1 | 75.2 |
| Joe Burrow | 2020 | 23-36 | 193 | 0 | 1 | 66.1 |
Mason Rudolph – Veteran Backup
The Steelers already know what they have in Rudolph. He played in 10 games in 2019, 5 games in 2020, and 2 in 2021. Steeler fans know that he is average at best, and not the answer they need as their long time starting QB. A change to Rudolph would pretty much guarantee that the Steelers will not give Pickett any meaningful playing time this season.
| Year | G | GS | QBrec | Cmp | Att | Cmp% | Yds | TD | TD% | Int | Lng | Y/A | AY/A | Y/C | Y/G | Rate | QBR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 10 | 8 | 5-3-0 | 176 | 283 | 62.2 | 1765 | 13 | 4.6 | 9 | 76 | 6.2 | 5.7 | 10.0 | 176.5 | 82.0 | 36.2 |
| 2020 | 5 | 1 | 0-1-0 | 25 | 43 | 58.1 | 324 | 2 | 4.7 | 1 | 47 | 7.5 | 7.4 | 13.0 | 64.8 | 87.7 | 72.7 |
| 2021 | 2 | 1 | 0-0-1 | 35 | 58 | 60.3 | 277 | 1 | 1.7 | 1 | 36 | 4.8 | 4.3 | 7.9 | 138.5 | 70.8 | 39.5 |