Pittsburgh Steelers

Steelers face tough QB choice between Pickett and Trubisky

Published Jun. 29, 2022 5:26 p.m. ET

The Pittsburgh Steelers are bringing back a handful of starters this upcoming season, but the biggest question persists: who will replace Ben Roethlisberger?

The Steelers signed Mitch Trubisky to a two-year deal in free agency and drafted Kenny Pickett with the 20th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Who will they choose to lead the offense to start the year?

"We have high expectations in that building," Pickett shared recently on "The Pat McAfee Show." "They've been an unbelievable franchise since this really started, so I just want to continue that greatness."

Should Kenny Pickett or Mitch Trubisky start for Steelers? | THE HERD

The Pittsburgh Steelers are returning many key starters, including Minkah Fitzpatrick after making him the highest-paid safety in NFL history. However, one offseason question is who will fill Ben Roethlisberger's shoes?

FOX Sports' Joy Taylor discussed the QB situation on "The Herd" Wednesday. She believes it's good to throw young, highly-drafted quarterbacks into the fire quickly. But she also sees the value in having a young quarterback sit behind a veteran QB and learn the ropes.

"The standard of Pittsburgh used to be Super Bowls," Taylor said. "It's not been that way for quite a while. [They're] very comfortable with just being competitive. There's been a lot of concessions made that have certainly closed the Super Bowl window when Ben was there, and I do think that they need to be more aggressive on the offensive side of the ball. That said, that's why I like this [draft] pick. Go take a swing at your future first-round guy.

"This is no disrespect to Trubisky, but there's only so much you are going to learn from sitting behind him," Taylor added. "Will you learn how to be a professional? Will you learn certain nuances of the game? Yes. He can help him become a pro, but he's not going to guide him any more than that."

Last season at the University of Pittsburgh, Pickett threw for 4,319 yards, 42 touchdowns and only seven interceptions, while completing 67.2% of his passes. He led the Panthers to an 11-3 record, which was good enough to be ranked 13th by the Associated Press at the end of the season, leading to a 31-21 loss to No. 11 Michigan State in the Peach Bowl.

Trubisky's last season playing more than 10 games was in 2019 with the Chicago Bears. He started 15 games and threw for 3,136 yards, 17 touchdowns and 10 interceptions at a 63.2% completion rate. In that season, his Bears went 8-8 and finished third in the NFC North division.

"Where the Steelers are as an organization right now, with a great defense, weapons, a Hall-of-Fame coach that hasn't had a losing season, a very patient front office and ownership group, and fans that are going nowhere, you can take some risks with Kenny Pickett," Taylor said.