Steelers Update on Pennlive PennLive

In the lull between minicamp and training camp, talk often replaces on-field achievement. And boy, has there been a lot of talk surrounding your Steelers. In wake of safety Minkah Fitzpatrick’s blockbuster Steelers contract, plenty in Pittsburgh are saying receiver Dionate Johnson will be the next to cash in. 
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Nobody puts Kenny Pickett third on the QB depth chart.
Yet, that’s precisely where Pickett has been pegged by Mike Tomlin & Company coming off minicamp practices. So where does the team’s first quarterback battle in nearly 20 years stand heading into training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe?
First off, this is still a three-way battle to be the Steelers’ starter when the team travels to Cincinnati to face the AFC Champion Bengals to open the season. Believe it or not, supposedly mediocre Mason Rudolph is not out of it, despite what a large portion of Steelers Nation might think. But it’s Mitch Trubisky, the free-agent signing making backup quarterback bread, who’s currently the clear frontrunner. 
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Two Steelers milestones occurred this week, and they’re very much interlinked. First, it was rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett celebrating his 24th birthday. The second is the start of mandatory minicamp, with full-blown Steelers’ training camp looming on the horizon. These events are bound together because 24 is “old” for a first-round rookie QB. But Kenny Pickett was drafted by the Steelers precisely because he was the most experienced, pro-ready quarterback available. Pickett comes with five years and 49 starts under his belt at Pitt. The Steelers, which share a building with the hometown college football team, watched Pickett’s progress every single year. This brings us to mandatory minicamp, where things start getting real. 
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It’s been a season of change for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Changes at the top have a new general management structure in place, with a mix of new and old blood to structure future Steelers rosters. Meanwhile, your 2022 roster has taken shape via aggressive moves by the outgoing GM in both free agency and the draft -- moves that should totally transform the team’s quarterback room.
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There’s nothing worse than seeing a former significant other getting along just fine without you. No wonder a miffed Ben Roethlisberger, who apparently thought he had more to give the Steelers beyond last season, is at the bitterness stage of his recent retirement. Big Ben had some choice words when asked about the sudden unretirement of the ageless Tom Brady and Tom’s triumphant return to the Tampa Bay Bucs for yet another season. Roethlisberger indicated he was basically unwanted by the Steelers for 2022, telling WDVD radio in Pittsburgh: “First off, my coach and GM don’t want me back.” Ouch! 
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Timing is everything. And everyone in Pittsburgh seems to be itching for Pitt hero-turned Steeler Kenny Pickett to begin his NFL quarterbacking career on Week 1 of his rookie year.
Whether impatient Pittsburgh fans get what they want could largely depend on the about-to-be-released 2022 NFL schedule. If the Steelers’ slate of games is frontloaded with winnable ones -- such as the Browns, the Jets, the Falcons and even Miami or New Orleans – this would make it far easier to justify starting the rookie Pickett over the more-established free agent, Mitch Trubisky. But if that schedule presents an early-season wall of worry, dominated by dates against the Ravens, Raiders, Buccaneers, Patriots and even the Eagles? It might cause Steelers coaches to proceed with caution. In other words, keep Pickett on the bench and throw Trubisky to the wolves, instead.
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