Dulac: Steelers Appear To Have Some ‘Internal Division’ Regarding Starting QB

It’s easy.

Watch the last 2 minutes of the Super Bowl vs Cardinals.

Which QB can do what Ben did?

There’s your golden rule checklist.

 

I'm so tired of the media with these type of qoutes about who the coach loves, just because Tomlin said a few nice things about Justin Fields at his pro day, now Adam Schefter reports Tomlin loves Fields .

 

LoL. Funny how You are leaving out the almost 7 million dollar signing bonus that Trubisky got along with the two year deal, and the 8 million dollar guarantee that he got. LoL..., but other than that. Either of which by itself alone was more than Mason was making. Come on @Steel_Elvis
It's like @Blast Furnace said earlier(which is funny because He wouldn't admit the same thing when it came to Mason) they are not going to bring in one of these guys like J. Fields, Watson, Cousins, and others to compete....they will be the starters until they can't be.....just exactly like Trubisky who all in all was making 3 times as much as Mason, and KFP who was a 1st round pick, and got 1st round money wasn't going to be in actual competition with a 3rd round Qb that was making the least amount of money at that position....until they had no choice. This is how it's done on most of the teams.......yes there are outliers, but most of the time the guys with the highest pick, and, or the highest pay at that position on that team play until they can't, or play themselves out of it. Like Trubisky did.

 

It would be a conspiracy if that was true, but He left off the 7 million dollar signing bonus, and the 8 million dollar guarantee, and the two year deal that Trubisky got......all of which just by themselves with out the yearly salary was more than Mason was making.

 

That's a good point. Also, these people ignore the fact that Trubisky had a better career up to that point and he played better in the preseason games. Some folks put way too much stock in the statistics that were reported from the first week of training camp that year.

It didn't work out, but it made sense given the information available at the time.

 

Uh, what? I don't think you understand the contract Trubisky signed in 2022, or how salary cap prorations work.

Rudolph had a higher cap number in 2022, period. Where you could argue there was more invested in Trubisky was in that he was set to count a minimum of $2.625M in 2023 (remainder of signing bonus), whereas Rudolph was a FA; and with whatever value they assigned to his being a former #2 overall pick and his starting experience, versus Rudolph's third-round stock whose body of work on Sundays was much smaller.

I do agree with the above, that once Trubisky and Pickett were on the roster Rudolph's chances at QB1 had already been decided.

 

To fairly compared Mason and Kenny... you have to divide their games into a pre-Canada release and post-Canada release.

Pre-Canada, Mason owned a 5-5 record (starting and finishing the game) with 16 TDs, 11 Ints, 60% completions, and a 6.2 yards per pass.
Pre-Canada, Kenny owned a 6-4 record (starting and finishing the game) with 12 TDs and 13 Ints, 61% completions, and a 6.1 yards per pass.

Post-Canada release, Mason owned a 3-1 record (starting and finishing the game) with 5 TDs, 1 Ints, 71.1% completions, and 8.9 yards per pass.
Post-Canada release, Kenny owned a 1-0 record (starting and finishing the game), with 0 TDs, 0 Ints, 71.4% completions, and 7.7 yards per pass.

Significant Facts: Kenny Pickett had the Steelers at 7-4 and in prime position for the playoffs before getting injured in the next game.

The first game after Matt Canada was release... and on the road... Kenny Pickett led the Steelers to over 400 yards of offense, 72.2% completions, for over 278 yards in a win. And had it not been for a Diontae Johnson dropped pass in the end zone, Kenny would have passed for over 300 yards with 1 TD and 0 Ints.

Insignificant Facts: 1) Kenny Pickett outplayed both Mitch and Rudolph on the last two pre-seasons, 2) Kenny has already shown a level of "clutch ability" that neither Mitch or Rudolph has ever shown, and 3) only one QB on the 2023 roster lost their starting position to Devlin Duck Hodges... just sayin...!

This is not to say that Kenny Pickett has proven himself as the future of the franchise... or is better than Mason Rudolph... it's simply to say... when comparing both players, with Matt Canada as OC, there is very little difference. When comparing both players (with a limited sampling size) without Matt Canada as OC... the numbers are arguably similar.

So where does that leave us...? If I were forced to keep one QB over the other with similar numbers... I'm leaning toward a player who is three years younger, has a history of developing (see college years), and appears to have the "clutch gene". I feel like the Steelers are making the right call by committing to Kenny and taking that commitment serious as they search for other QBs to add onto the roster.

 

I get that. I just think for them to acquire a vet (expected) and spend their first round pick on a QB signaled they didn't have a lot of confidence in Mason to begin with. He was 27 for the 2022 season (Trubisky, 28), so there was no real rush, especially in a weak QB class, to invest first round capital there if they had good feelings about Mason.

 

You seem to ignore one big statistic. Kenny has the worst TD to pass ration of any QB that has played in the nfl. The defense was a big part in some of those wins as they kept the game close as Kenny went 3 and out repeatedly. Kenny being three years younger doesn't really matter when he is prone to injury. Mason was consistently good in college while Kenny just had one decent year. Kenny really never showed any steady improvement in his game and some may say he regressed. You give peak Tom Brady a coach like Canada, and I am sure he still wins the SB. You give Bill Belichek Pickett, and Belichek loses his job. It's the QB, not the coach in most instances.

 

But the question is how good would Tom Brady have looked after his first two years in the league if Matt Canada would have been his OC? He may have washed out of the league and none of us would even know his name.

 

The guy who was third in the Heisman Trophy voting had a "decent year." You're funny.

 

I'm attributing the "worst TD to pass ratio" to Matt Canada's terrible play calling and terrible schemes. Once Matt Canada was gone... both Kenny and Mason started throwing TD passes. Again, had DJ held onto the ball, Kenny would have thrown a TD in his first and only post-Canada game (where he started and finished the game).

What strikes me as funny is... we've all seen Kenny throw TD's... short and long... beautiful passes. To suggest the lack of TD's is all on Kenny instead of the majority of the scheme, play calling, performance of teammate, players (like Muth) being out, etc... seems unjustified.

 

There have been many videos analyzing Pickett's horrible play where he doesn't see open receivers, or gets out of pocket prematurely. I am sure Brady wouldn't have repeatedly missed those. It's all speculation. So far Pickett has had one 'good' year when he had a top receiver in the country in college. 24 games is a lot and he really hasn't showed much. His supporters point to the Cincinnati game last year where he still only scored 16 points, while downplaying Mason's total annihilation of the same opponent.

 

Mason's final year was arguably better...the difference being Mason was consistently good in college.

 

I fail to see why this story is gaining so much traction. AR II and Mike Tomlin both have stated, in lockstep, that Kenny is the starter heading into 2024. There will be competition but who that is remains to be seen.


The only way Kenny Pickett isn't the starting QB for the Steelers is if one of the big three (namely Drake Maye) somehow, someway, falls out of the top 10. By that point, Pittsburgh will have to field an impressive haul to move up to get him. Beyond someone like Maye, not too many others in the class to trade up for.


Side note: I do expect a trade up by the Steelers. Not for a QB though.

 

You do realize Rudolph had one of the dominant receivers in the country in his final season of college ball, too, right?

This has been explained to you repeatedly. The Bengals were worse by the time Rudolph faced them. They had just lost the best run-stopper on the offensive line and they didn't want Freiermuth to abuse them again, so they stupidly played man-to-man on Pickens all day. Rudolph took advantage of that on three big plays, two on very good throws and one on a poor throw that Pickens bailed him out. He had receivers open deep all day and made a good throw on one of them. That's supposed to be his strength. I'm sorry your analysis of those two games is so simplistic and flawed.

 

Fantasy land. Prediction This time next year Pickett will not be Steelers starting QB if Steelers manage to re sign Rudolph.

James Washington wasn’t that good, or he would still be in the nfl. Pickett wouldn’t have made the throw and probably had an incomplete on the throw where ‘Picken’ bailed him out. I am sorry, your defense of Pickett seems to have lost all rationality. Did you forget that Pickett had the lowest TD to pass ratio of any QB in history of nfl…. Oh right that’s Canada’s fault.

it was Rooney who said ( paraphrasing) that Mason showed us what this offense is capable of. Pickett couldn’t do that in 24 starts. Very telling statement.

 

Does anybody think the Steelers will move Dionte Johnson or Pickens to the Bears for their CB?
We are not going to pay both WR's what they think their worth down the line. This gives the bears two capable.
wr's for their #1 draft pick to throw too.

 

Peter King on the QB situation of the steelers....

5. I think, speaking of the Steelers, longtime beat man on the team Gerry Dulac reported the other day that the Steelers “are not interested in bringing in a quarterback who wants to be a starter.” Come again? In a division with Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson and Deshaun Watson, the Steelers would actually choose to enter camp with Kenny Pickett and Mason Rudolph (should he sign in free agency with Pittsburgh)? That sounds like a colossal misjudgment of your quarterback position.



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They are going to give KP a part of next year before they give up on him. Probably just wasting a season but it is what it is.

 

another one!