Ever been driving along minding your own business when suddenly someone hits a puddle just right? The dirty water and chunks of mud hit your windshield perfectly leaving you momentarily blinded before you can hit the wipers. Right now, the windshield is the Pittsburgh Steelers and the mud is their quarterback situation.
The good news here is that we are barely a week into the season and there’s still time to get this thing situated. The bad news is that things don’t look very promising right now because none of the three are showing any level of consistent competency. Kenny Pickett has seen time with the second team this week and has looked better. Mason Rudolph has gotten third team reps and has looked worse. Mitchell Trubisky has had stints where he looks worse than a middle schooler starting his first game.
In the defense of both Pickett and Rudolph, the evidence is now overwhelming that the third-team offensive line is really bad. That doesn’t mean Pickett and Rudolph were as bad as they looked because they honestly didn’t have a prayer. Unfortunately that doesn’t excuse them or give their poor performances a pass. Both just aren’t playing consistently well at all.
Trubisky’s struggles are the real story here however. He’s supposed to be the ‘rock,’ the ‘steadying presence,’ the ‘guy…’ But he hasn’t been and that has allowed this competition to become a mud wrestling match that no one wants to see. Fourth stringer Chris Oladokun is still on the outside looking in but he really needs Rudolph to play better. Improving his trade value gives Oladokun a shot to move into the third spot and right now, anything remains possible.
What’s fair to say is that both Pickett and Trubisky are still getting the offense built into their brains while Rudy is much further along. His decision making should be faster and for the most part it has been. At some point in the very near future however Mike Tomlin will have to point to a guy and say “you’re the starter.” This is a situation the long-time coach hasn’t been in before so any clarity these three can provide would be helpful. Trubisky is still the leader in the clubhouse as they say but nothing is certain. The whole situation is as clear as mud.
Feature image courtesy triblive.com
