Analyst suggests Mitchell Trubisky will win Steelers job over Kenny Pickett?

Assuming the majority of reports and rumors on the subject are accurate, the Pittsburgh Steelers would start veteran and free-agent acquisition Mitchell Trubisky at quarterback over career backup Mason Rudolph and first-round draft choice Kenny Pickett if they had to play a meaningful game today. 

Multiple individuals who cover the Steelers heavily hinted this week that Pittsburgh could look to trade Rudolph during or after the preseason so he can receive a legitimate opportunity to play elsewhere but also so that Pickett can be Trubisky's primary backup. It's been said Pickett "has an uphill battle to unseat" Trubisky atop the depth chart this summer, and Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus explained why that might be the case. 

"There were some concerning elements to his college tape — chief among them was a 3.2-second average time to throw last season that settled at 3.08 seconds for his entire college career," Monson wrote about Pickett. "The longest average time to throw in the NFL last season was 3.2 seconds, and it’s a trait that typically gets worse initially for young quarterbacks. There’s a good chance that Pickett may hold onto the ball to an extreme degree when he first gets behind an offensive line that blocked for the league’s fastest average time to throw a season ago." 

Some may feel Pittsburgh should immediately start Pickett over an option such as Trubisky, who is with his third different team since January 2021. For what it's worth, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin seemingly disagrees with such takes and remarked during a recent podcast appearance he is "excited about being uncomfortable" with uncertainty at the position following the retirement of future Hall of Famer Ben Roethlisberger.

In short, the starting job is probably Trubisky's to lose, but that doesn't necessarily mean Pickett can't win it by the end of August.