Steelers Camp Takeaways: Trubisky, Pickett Fabulous on Saturday

PITTSBURGH — The quarterbacks were the talk of the town at Steelers camp as training camp took a detour to the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. Mitch Trubisky, Mason Rudolph, and Kenny Pickett have been the focus of training camp all throughout the last two weeks. Each of these players has its ebbs and flows, its pros and cons. Still, there is no one who has done enough to unseat the lead dog in Trubisky just yet.

Trubisky on Saturday was marvelous. It combined all the highs Trubisky had shown throughout the first two weeks in Latrobe into one day. Every time Trubisky seemed to step back to pass on Saturday afternoon, he would find someone open and he was nails throughout the entirety of it. Trubisky looked confident, took the necessary shots when needed, and played at a high level.

His 30-yard deep ball on a corner route to Calvin Austin was his personal best throw of training camp. Later in the team sessions, Trubisky would follow that up with a laser of a curl route to Austin, who proceeded to take it 75 yards for a touchdown. That connection paid dividends for Trubisky all day, but he put the cherry on top in his two-minute drill at Steelers camp.

Starting at the 20-yard line, Trubisky guided the team down the field. On one play, Trubisky felt the rush, stepped up in the pocket, and fired it to an open George Pickens down the sideline for 20 yards. Later in the drive, on a 3rd and long, Trubisky would hit Gunner Olszewski on a gorgeous curl route right past the sticks. The drive would end when Trubisky found Olszewski in the back of the endzone for the touchdown.

“It’s just Mitch being Mitch,” Heyward said of the drill. “He was composed and lead that drive. Mitch didn’t flinch, and with a quarterback like that, it just makes us have so much more confident with our team.”

Not be outdone, however, was Kenny Pickett. Pickett put in back-to-back great days at Steelers camp on Thursday and now Saturday. It seems that he is really settling into a groove. On one play, Pickett dropped back on a play-action pass and found Conner Heyward on a sail route. It was a perfect throw by Pickett, and Heyward took it 50 yards for a touchdown.

Pickett was decisive and made accurate throws, even through a hail storm. As the hail dropped during the seven shots period, Pickett hit Tyler Vaughns on a pretty fade route for a touchdown. Maybe there is something about that throw that Pickett loves, but he has been money on it all week long. So, it was a successful day for those quarterbacks.

That is not to shame Mason Rudolph at all. In fact, Rudolph was steady and even on Saturday. Was he flashy? No, he was not. Rudolph also did not create an explosive play like Pickett or Trubisky. However, he did take care of the football and made some great reads overall.

The quarterback competition is in a solid place as the Steelers head into Monday for their next training camp practice. As it stands, all of the quarterbacks have had their good days and their bad days. With all three heading into Week 3 with some solid days to end the week under their belt, the week leading up to the Seahawks preseason game should be a fun one.

More to come….