Here’s an excerpt from my most recent TribLive.com column:
*The Steelers already know what their plan is at quarterback. There isn’t enough time nor snaps to have a true “competition” at training camp, especially with two quarterbacks new to both team and system.
To read the rest, click HERE.
To expand on that excerpt, the Steelers are pretending that Mason Rudolph is somehow involved in the “competition,” listing him second on the depth chart between Mitch Trubisky and Kenny Pickett. The idea apparently being that Pickett, a rookie, must earn his way up the totem pole by running with the scrubs.
I bet Pickett is terrified he might get cut. That frequently happens to first-round picks when they do poorly at OTAs.
I’m not sure what’s more laughable: The notion that much is on the line for Pickett at OTAs, the idea of a depth chart at OTAs, or thinking that Rudolph has a job in Pittsburgh come Week 1.
Here’s another excerpt:
*The Steelers schedule is tight and tough early. So Trubisky figures to start at season’s beginning, then give way to rookie Kenny Pickett after the Steelers go, say, 2-4. That’s a sensible plan. But Pickett, who turns 24 in two weeks, needs to become the starter at some point this season, and the Steelers want to avoid paying Trubisky his lucrative performance bonuses. (What happens if the Steelers start, say, 4-2 with Trubisky at the helm?)
So it was written. So it will come to pass. That’s good writin’, Dickie.
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