2022 Steelers Season Recall: Preseason Games Begin
Steel City Underground presents our 2022 Steelers Recall: a look back at Pittsburgh Steelers games and storylines from last season.
The Pittsburgh Steelers 2022 preseason was must-see TV for more reasons than exhibition games typically are. For the first time in 18 seasons, the Steelers had a new quarterback at the helm following the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger: although, it was these three upcoming preseason games which would determine who that QB was!
Among the trio vying to be Pittsburgh’s Week 1 starter were Mitchell Trubisky, a veteran quarterback and former number two overall draft pick by the Chicago Bears; Mason Rudolph, the Steelers in-house development project taken in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft, and the newest draft pick, 2022 first round selection Kenny Pickett.
Each passer appeared to have their advantages, but it was clear from the start of offseason workouts that Trubisky, as the veteran, was the man to beat. The former Bears quarterback led the charge in all of the Steelers training camp drills while starting every preseason game.
Despite coming in and looking the best prepared of the bunch, Rudolph had an uphill battle to ward off the two newcomers, while Pickett would gradually start slow but build to a crescendo as the game wore on.
The first preseason game was played at home in Pittsburgh against the Seattle Seahawks. The hometown crowd anxiously awaited the debut if Pickett, who played in the same stadium during his college career with the University of Pittsburgh. He would get his chance at the start of the second half – and not disappoint – completing 13 of his 15 pass attempts for 95 yards and 2 touchdown passes.
Pickett’s pair of passes would equal what both Trubisky and Rudolph threw, as all three signal callers finished the evening with at least a 100 quarterback rating in the 32-25 victory.
Week 2 of the preseason would see Kenny Pickett jump Mason Rudolph in the pecking order, as Trubisky was pulled after three possessions, two of which ended in punts. Pickett would finally lead Pittsburgh to the endzone with a 5-play, 63-yard drive towards the end of the second quarter.
That would be enough for Mike Tomlin, as he decided he saw enough of his rookie and placed Rudolph into the game for the entire second half: of which, Rudolph led to late scoring drives with 11 plays for a field goal and another 52-yard possession that concluded with a 1-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Snead.
Rudolph would finish with a 107.7 rating, but Pickett would have a near-perfect 151.5 rating in his limited appearance. The Steelers would best the Jaguars 16-15.
The third and final preseason game, which was played at home against the Detroit Lions. Mitch Trubisky would play the entire first half, going 15-19 for 160 yards and a touchdown to end his day as the Steelers scored on three-straight possessions ending field goals, plus another with Mitch’s TD pass to Steven Sims.
Pickett would play most of the second half, but only led a single field goal drive, finishing 10 of 14 for 90 yards.
Rudolph, who saw late action, failed to complete any of his three pass attempts, but it didn’t matter as the Steelers comfortably closed out their preseason 3-0 with a 19-9 dub over Detroit.
The final finish of the preseason maybe left more questions than answers going in. The biggest, of course, is who the Steelers starting quarterback would be in Week 1 against the defending AFC Champion Cincinnati Bengals.
As the dust settled, all three quarterbacks head nearly identical stats:
| Player | Cmp | Att | Cmp% | Yds | Yds/Att | TD | Int | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rudolph, Mason | 26 | 39 | 66.7 | 220 | 5.6 | 2 | 0 | 98.2 |
| Pickett, Kenny | 29 | 36 | 80.6 | 261 | 7.3 | 3 | 0 | 124.7 |
| Trubisky, Mitchell | 24 | 34 | 70.6 | 283 | 8.3 | 2 | 0 | 115.2 |
A few other battles were noted, but not as consequential as the quarterbacks took the spotlight. Among those, was a backup running back competition between Anthony McFarland, Benny Snell, and undrafted rookie Jaylen Warren.
The three backs were all receiving extra playing time as Najee Harris, who was later discovered to be recovering from a Lisfranc injury, sat out the entire preseason.
While McFarland looked impressive in his first game, and Snell looked abysmal in his second, it was the latter that would earn a roster spot at the end of camp.
On the receiving side, George Pickens garnered more and more attention as his exciting plays showed why many called him a second round steal in the 2022 NFL Draft. And while he appeared to boost the WR corps, the offensive line still looked like it had issues, namely in trying to block anything the Jacksonville Jaguars brought their way.
The offense needed to pair nicely with the league’s highest-paid defense, who was chomping at the bit for some full-time action. That would come soon enough in Cincinnati, which is where this column will resume revisiting next week.
