The Steelers enter a new era of their franchise this fall as they will have a new starting quarterback for the first time since Ben Roethlisberger’s rookie season in 2004.
The team has yet to name its starting quarterback for the 2022 season. However, it’s made various moves this offseason, signing Mitch Trubisky to a two-year deal and drafting Kenny Pickett.
Defensive tackle Cameron Heyward, who’s spent all 11 of his NFL years in Pittsburgh, recently spoke about the quarterback battle on his podcast, Not Just Football.
“It starts with Mitch. Mitch, we bought him in in free agency,” Heyward said. “The thing we have to remember about Mitch is he’s coming from a situation where in Chicago, they didn’t really give him anything. And he still made it to the playoffs. ... Everything like to say ‘Mitch did this wrong, Mitch did that wrong.’ Man, Mitch did a lot of things right. Hopefully we have a better team around him. And we’re going to support him. Right now, he’s our No. 1.”
Trubisky was the Bears’ primary starting quarterback from 2017 to ’20 after being taken No. 2 in the 2017 NFL draft. There was a lot of hype around the quarterback coming to Chicago, in hopes that he could lead the team to a playoff run since the Bears hadn’t made the playoffs since ’10.
His first season was rough, as he ended with a 4–8 record as starter. However, 2018 was a turnaround year for Trubisky as he was selected to his first and only Pro Bowl thus far and led the Bears to a wildcard game, which the team lost to the Eagles. He helped Chicago to another playoff game in the ’20 season, which they also lost. The following year he signed with the Bills to play as Josh Allen’s backup.
Heyward believes Trubisky didn’t get a fair chance in Chicago. But, it sounds like the 27-year-old might have a shot at redemption in 2022 if the Steelers name him the starter over Pickett and veteran Pittsburgh backup Mason Rudolph.
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