Now and then, it’s suggested a change of scenery could do a struggling veteran NFL player well. They might even thrive in escaping a situation that probably fed into their inconsistencies. It can be heartening, speaks to relatable stories of redemption, and does not apply to Mitchell Trubisky and the Steelers wholeheartedly.
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Question marks surround Trubisky and an inept offense as he and his team are set to take on Insert Team in a primetime game. You could substitute in “Packers” from Trubisky’s old Bears days or the Browns on Thursday Night Football, and it’d be indistinguishable.
What was true from 2017-2020 in Chicago remains entirely correct: Trubisky isn’t a viable long-term starter in the NFL. And probably never will be.
Now, you might say it’s still too early to write off Trubisky and to let first-round rookie Kenny Pickett give it the old college try. Two games aren’t nearly enough to understand what a player brings to the table. I get it. A short leash does no one under center any favors. Unfortunately, that would only be true if Trubisky wasn’t:
- 28 years old (decidedly NOT a young quarterback)
- If this wasn’t the very same Trubisky we saw struggle to read defenses for almost half a decade along Lake Michigan.
Such a deficiency doesn’t simply go away because the closest body of water to his new team is now the Allegheny River.
Through just eight quarters of football, Trubisky has been so ineffective as the Steelers’ passer that it bears wondering how anyone believed this experiment would work out in the first place. Right now, the veteran QB is 29th in the NFL in passing yards (362). Some of the players notably ahead of him include:
- Perennial journeyman Jacoby Brissett (the Browns’ current starter)
- Daniel “I Will Make The Most Out of Chance No. 4” Jones in New York.
- Geno Smith. Really
While some of the players just behind Trubisky include the 49ers’ Trey Lance (now injured; played one game in a driving rainstorm) and his replacement in Chicago, Justin Fields (also played one game in a driving rainstorm; has a historic 28 total passing attempts thus far).
Trubisky’s average yards per attempt is 5.1, and his total air yards — a measure of big chunk plays a quarterback creates rather than their receiver getting yards after the catch — is 25th in the NFL with 231 total. This is a far cry from the last instance Trubisky was a starter in 2020 in Chicago when, in 10 games, he managed to finish … 32nd in air yards. It’s wild how Trubisky didn’t magically learn how to challenge defenses downfield in the one year he spent trying to absorb ability by osmosis as Josh Allen’s backup in Buffalo. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
I understand the Steelers’ have a gifted receiving corps capable of making huge plays at any moment. But with that kind of non-threatening output, you might as well just hand off to the running back every play. The quarterback becomes redundant — an offensive conduit no defense is afraid of or has to game-plan for. And you’re wasting that receiving talent, to boot.
As my pal and colleague Christian D’Andrea wrote after Trubisky’s listless 168-yard, one touchdown, one interception performance against the Patriots last Sunday — the Steelers should know better about their quarterbacks, too:
The Steelers are well aware of the damage a passer who can’t throw downfield creates; that pretty much sums up the final two years of Roethlisberger’s career.
Pittsburgh and Mike Tomlin might have a good reason for waiting to throw Pickett in. We’ve seen many young quarterbacks struggle before they were “ready.” But if the Steelers’ best recourse is to let Trubisky take live reps and keep the seat warm for The Future while their offense coughs up dust every week, that noble plan won’t last long.
The pick: Browns 17, Steelers 10
Neither of these teams boast very explosive offenses, but the Browns have one of the NFL’s premier offensive lines and Nick Chubb. They’ll bowl over their rivals in a decisive and clinical low-scoring affair.
