PITTSBURGH — The Steelers will have a quarterback competition down to the final whistle. Mike Tomlin pulled no punches when he said on Monday that the final week and lastly, the last preseason game against the Detroit Lions will decide who wins the Steelers QB job.
“Yes,” Tomlin said when asked if the quarterback competition will come down to the last week of work.
Over the last two preseason games, Mitch Trubisky has been named the starter. That is expected to be the trend continuing forward into the third preseason game against the Lions. However, Kenny Pickett has made the decision much harder. Mason Rudolph has been solid, too. If the race is a three-quarterback race, it seems like it is closer than ever before due to some high-quality play across the board.
Still, the seesaw of back and forth between Trubisky, Pickett, and Rudolph has been something to watch. All three in the Steelers QB competition have had their moments and their downfalls. Yet, as that final decision creeps up, there is no certain starter. Will the rotation change itself up? That seems unlikely, but the Steelers will want to see Pickett replicate his performance to push Trubisky even more.
Of course, the quarterback competition is not the only spot that will come down to the last week of work. Left guard, inside linebacker, cornerback, and some depth battles will be decided in the last week of work as well. Tomlin is not shying away from any of that adversity.
“Man a lot of spots are going to come down to this work,” Tomlin said. “This work is weighted differently and appropriately so. The in-stadium work is significant, and increasingly so with the more stadium exposure you get. So make no mistake, this is a significant game for a lot of people.”
The quarterbacks will go at it one more time in the preseason before Tomlin ends up naming who the starting quarterback will be against the Bengals. With their steady play, none of them have made it easy on the Steelers coaching staff.