NFL analyst predicts if Kenny Pickett starts for Steelers in 2022
PITTSBURGH – Everyone and their mother knows about the upcoming battle -or current battle, even- for the Steelers' starting quarterback gig. Mitch Trubisky, Mason Rudolph, and Kenny Pickett, in no respective order, headline the event. All three, according to Mike Tomlin, have a shot to win the job. But, when it comes to the reality […]
PITTSBURGH – Everyone and their mother knows about the upcoming battle -or current battle, even- for the Steelers' starting quarterback gig.
Mitch Trubisky, Mason Rudolph, and Kenny Pickett, in no respective order, headline the event. All three, according to Mike Tomlin, have a shot to win the job. But, when it comes to the reality of the situation, it's very likely the meat of the battle will be between Pickett and Trubisky.
Regardless, one NFL.com analyst, Gregg Rosenthal, recently took his shot at predicting who wins the starting quarterback job in 2022:
"Mitchell Trubisky is the slight favorite to start in Week 1. However, in this exercise, I'm projecting which players will get the most snaps this season, and the Steelers didn't draft Kenny Pickett to sit for long. I'm setting the over-under for Pickett's first start at Week 4."
There's one big implication behind Rosenthal's prediction
If Trubisky is in fact the Steelers' Week 1 starter and is eventually benched for Pickett, well, that means things aren't going so great when it comes to quarterback play in the Steel City.
There's also a good chance the Steelers are losing games if the QB play isn't good. Rosenthal's Week 4 over-under comes after the Steelers play the Bengals, Patriots, and Browns to open the season. If Trubisky is playing bad enough to get benched by Week 4 against the Jets, then that likely means the Steelers are 0-3 at that point in the season and New York represents an "opportunity" for Pickett to receive quality playing time before the Steelers face off against the Bills, Bucs, Dolphins, Eagles, Saints, Bengals, and Colts over the following eight weeks.
But this all doesn't revolve around Week 4, obviously. The first 10 games on the Steelers' schedule are not easy, whatsoever. There's a good chance Trubisky's play just doesn't move the needle enough to where the team competes on a regular basis. Thus, the team inserts Pickett at some point to see if the rook can starting adding some wins to the record.
Regardless of how Rosenthal's somewhat-assumed benching of Trubisky pans out, the catalyst will be that Trubisky is not playing well and the Steelers are simultaneously losing.
Which is a situation the Steelers don't want to be in this year.
You can read Rosenthal's full column, here.
Featured image via Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
