LATROBE, Pa. -- It was the quarterback competition that wasn’t -- at least not for the No. 1 job.
After selecting Kenny Pickett in the first round of this year’s NFL Draft, Mike Tomlin said the rookie would get an opportunity to win the starting job for the Steelers from newcomer Mitch Trubisky and holdover Mason Rudolph.
As it turns out, Rudolph hasn’t even really been given a chance to win the starting job from Trubisky.
Tomlin announced Thursday that Trubisky will start the team’s preseason opener before giving way to Rudolph and then Pickett, which is largely the way things have been run throughout the offseason workouts and training camp.
A true quarterback competition, at least for the No. 1 job? This hasn’t been it.
So, does Rudolph, who has been the most consistent performer throughout training camp think he’s gotten a fair shot at winning the job?
“I know I’ve been given a shot,” Rudolph said, stressing the “a” in that reply when I asked him that question in about as controversial an answer as you'll get from him. “I’m trying to do everything I can to make it work. That’s all you can do. I don’t control the reps. I don’t control what goes on in the staff meetings every morning at 7:30. I control how I perform and my mentality and focus at 2 p.m.”
It’s difficult to manage a three-way battle in a quarterback competition, at least a true one. Rudolph has gotten a handful of snaps with the first-team offense – such as Wednesday when he went 4-for-4 in a two-minute drive, throwing a touchdown pass to exciting rookie George Pickens to finish it off.
But those snaps have been few and far between. More common has been Rudolph rotating with Pickett with the second and third teams.
That’s why when Pickett was selected by the Steelers, many fans wanted the 2018 third-round draft pick traded. But right now, it seems more likely that Rudolph is the No. 2 quarterback and Pickett is No. 3 heading into the season.
However, Rudolph was in a similar situation in 2019 when he beat out Josh Dobbs for the No. 2 spot, with Dobbs eventually being traded.
Does Rudolph hear the calls for him to be traded – or even released outright?
“I try to keep myself off social media in general outside of Instagram and pictures of friends and family,” Rudolph said. “I think that stuff is rat poison, good or bad. If I read I need to be traded and I read it, or if I read that you think I’m the best player to ever walk the earth, that would be bad, too, which obviously isn’t the case. I try to block out the noise and control what I can control.”
MORE STEELERS
2. Tomlin loves football. He lives it. He breathes it. He would keep his team sequestered year-round at Saint Vincent College -- or somewhere else -- if he could. But that "all-football, all-the-time" mentality also is what makes some around him worried he'll burn out at some point. "He's really good," one source told me. "But he thinks he can solve any problem himself." According to that source, Tomlin often does solve those problems. But it does make one wonder if Tomlin sometimes spreads himself too thin as a problem solver. -- Lolley
3. Tomlin did take up a hobby this offseason, doing some deep sea fishing. That's not a bad hobby for a coach. Go out a couple of miles from shore where there's not cell phone service and just get away from it all. -- Lolley
4. Third-year tight end Jace Sternberger is now with his fourth team in his three seasons after being a third-round pick of the Packers in 2019. Sternberger played a bit for the Packers in 2019 and 2020, but ran afoul of the team in 2021 when he was suspended two games for substance abuse. That led to his release later that summer. He first signed with the Seahawks following the end of his suspension, then the Commanders, getting added to the practice squad of both teams. The Steelers signed him to their practice squad last November after Washington released him. "I don’t know what his issues were everywhere else, but he’s been a model citizen since he’s been here," tight ends coach Alfredo Roberts told me. "He’s trying to learn it. He’s had some ebb and flow, some highs and some lows. He’s excelled in football-like drills, but I’ve got to get him to excel when we’re doing football stuff. That’s where it has not been seen consistently. One-on-one routes, he’s been a demon. Football stuff, he’s been average." -- Lolley
5. Tomlin called out Minkah Fitzpatrick in one-on-one drills Wednesday at Saint Vincent College to go against Sternberger. But Sternberger told me that was at his behest. "I asked for that," he told me. "Minkah is the highest-paid safety for a reason. I wanted to go against the best." How did it work out? Not exactly as he planned. Fitzpatrick broke up the pass. "I didn't sell my route well enough," Sternberger said. But you give him an A for effort and calling out one of the best safeties in the league. -- Lolley
6. One thing that has stood out in this camp is that Matt Canada is asking the team's running backs to run more wide receiver-type routes out of the slot. They're not just simply outlet options all the time. One running back who has looked good doing that has been third-year pro Anthony McFarland. "I don't really know what the plan is," McFarland told me. "I just go out there and show my versatility. I like to feel that wherever I can line up and show versatility, just try to help the offense any way I can." -- Lolley
7. A problem McFarland might have making this team, however, is the fact he doesn't do anything on special teams outside of perhaps returning kickoffs. And kickoff returners are way down the list of importance when it comes to special teams, especially since the NFL implemented the rule of placing the ball at the 25 on touchbacks a few years ago. In 2010, less than 20 percent of kickoffs resulted in touchbacks. The last few seasons, more than 60 percent of kickoffs have resulted in touchbacks. -- Lolley
8. One of the big questions of the offseason was why Tomlin would essentially cancel the extra week of OTA sessions his team had available this year. The answer was quite simple. Because the CBA now mandates four days of "heat acclimation" periods before teams can start practicing live at training camp, there was essentially an extra week's worth of non-padded workouts added to the start of training camp. Tomlin simply replaced that week of OTA sessions the team could have had with the heat acclimation period. -- Lolley
9. There are two ways for players to leave the field after practice at Chuck Noll Field in Latrobe. They can either walk up the hill back the way they came, where fans and the media wait for them, or they can go off the back side and take a golf cart back to the locker room. Typically, the veterans make the rookies do the former, going through the gauntlet of answering questions from those of us in the media. However, rookies such as George Pickens and Pickett are seldom made to go that way. They're obviously popular with the fans, but it's still noteworthy that the veterans aren't making them earn their stripes in that regard. Pickett has spent time, however, signing autographs long after practice, just not usually on the hill that leads to the locker room. -- Chris Halicke in Latrobe, Pa.
PIRATES
10. After being sidelined for the first two months of the season, Quinn Priester has been one of the top performers among Class AA starters. It’s part of the reason why he jumped up to the Pirates’ No. 2 prospect according to Baseball America’s midseason update this week. “It’s a lot of built-up stuff,” Priester told me in Altoona. “From being in Florida for however long it was, to watching games, getting super excited but not being able to pitch in them. It was frustrating. I feel like I’m simplifying things, getting comfortable at the level and just trying to do things a little bit better every time.” The main simplification was with his hip movement, making sure he takes stress off his body and the oblique that sidelined him. The Pirates were diligent with him getting those mechanics down pat, having him do extra waterbag and sandbag work to make sure he had the new motion right before getting back into game action. Priester has been raring to go all season, and he took to the new motion. “It’s not like I had ever gone into the work day and not locked into what I needed to do,” he said. “It’s just I’m locked in on the right things now.” -- Alex Stumpf in Phoenix
11. Last year, Priester morphed into mainly a three-pitch pitcher, using primarily his four-seamer, curve and his new cutter/slider. He was developing the last pitch, so it makes sense he would turn to it often, but when reflecting on his season, he didn’t like the change in his pitch mix. He’s mixed in more sinkers and changeups this year, especially the latter. In a start against Harrisburg last month, he didn’t have a feel for either breaking pitch, so he went with just his fastballs and his changeup. It was one of his best outings of the year, striking out eight over six innings with only one unearned run allowed. The changeup made it possible. “There should never be a moment where I’m hesitant to throw a changeup because of the way it’s played this year,” he said. “The confidence with that pitch has started to go way up.” -- Stumpf
12. While in Altoona, I caught up with hitting coach Jon Nunnally, who gave a passionate defense for Matt Fraizer’s poor season results. Of course you would expect a hitting coach to defend his pupil, but there was some fire there. He likes the cues and how Fraizer has battled through a frustrating season, even when he was searching for answers early this season. A .793 OPS in July pales in comparison to what he did last year en route to being named the organization’s Honus Wagner minor-league player of the year, but it was a step in the right direction. Nunnally is confident 2023 will yield much better results for him. After all, Fraizer has bounced back from a poor season once before after his underwhelming 2019 debut. Before next season, though, the Pirates will need to decide whether to protect him from the Rule 5 draft this winter. -- Stumpf
13. Didn’t look or sound like there was any animosity Wednesday or Thursday towards Rodolfo Castro from his teammates over him bringing his phone onto the field, but a good chunk of players were visibly (and in some cases, vocally) displeased Tuesday night. -- Stumpf
14. One of the big benchmarks the Pirates wanted to see from Roansy Contreras before he would be considered to be recalled from the minors was for him to hit five innings in an outing again. He did that Thursday. The Pirates are confident he can continue his development in the minors, but there’s a clear need in the majors right now, even if Tyler Beede has been stretched back out to go three or four innings in a start. -- Stumpf
15. Between Contreras and other pitchers such as Zach Thompson and JT Brubaker on pace to blow by their inning highs since at least 2018, don’t be surprised if we see the return of the hybrid pitcher down the stretch. I would expect Wil Crowe to stay in his late-inning leverage spot, but Beede could be one of those hybrid candidates. -- Stumpf
PENGUINS
16. Fenway Sports Group is big into data and analytics, and that goes beyond roster construction. They use it for things off the ice, like strength and conditioning and recovery. They've made a number of hires already in analytics for the business side of things, too. President of business operations Kevin Acklin told me that they studied data surrounding their ticket pricing and the secondary markets on a seat-by-seat basis, and used that information to adjust ticket pricing for season-ticket holders for the first time in a decade. For areas like on the glass in the double-attack end, that led to an increase in prices. But in many cases, prices were actually lowered. As a result, Acklin told me that season-ticket renewals are increased compared to past years. -- Taylor Haase at PPG Paints Arena
17. An eye-catching number of impactful unrestricted free agents have yet to sign a contract with training camp just over a month away. Many of them are waiting for teams to free up cap space rather than settling for a lesser deal, but some of them are in for a rude awakening if it hasn't happened already. A source told me the teams with plenty of cap space are essentially holding the teams without any cap space hostage. They're asking for king's ransoms to take on bad contracts and dead money, and rightfully so. Still, such steep demands have created an utter standstill in activity across the league. My source said this is the most clogged up they've ever seen the system. Some players who continue to hold out for better deals will be left without a seat at the dinner table. -- Danny Shirey at PPG Paints Arena
18. The Penguins have more bottom-six forwards than they'll be able to roster at the NHL level -- at least to start the season -- due to their salary cap restraints, but only a select few are apparent options to kill penalties. Jeff Carter, Teddy Blueger and Brock McGinn are the only locks. Could Kasperi Kapanen see some shorthanded action? His speed and much improved defensive play make him an intriguing candidate, and he killed penalties for several seasons with the Maple Leafs. Jason Zucker possesses many attributes you want from a penalty-killer, but with his injury history it probably isn't the best idea to trot him out there. Bryan Rust, though extremely capable, should have his shorthanded usage kept to a minimum if he is to remain on the top power-play unit. That leaves only Danton Heinen, Ryan Poehling and Josh Archibald as options to contribute on the kill. -- Shirey
19. With Russia removed from the World Junior Championship by the IIHF, Latvia was promoted to the top division in Russia's place, after Latvia won the Division 1A tournament in December. Penguins forward prospect Raivis Ansons was asked to play for Latvia in the tournament, but declined the invitation in order to devote his full attention to preparing for his first professional season. With goaltending prospect Joel Blomqvist snubbed by the Finnish team as retribution for his decision to play with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for two weeks in the spring instead of playing in a small four-team tournament, the Penguins have no prospects in the World Junior Championship this year. -- Haase
20. Wilkes-Barre has had just one assistant coach for the past two years, Kevin Porter. Typically, responsibilities with the forwards and defense, power play and penalty kill units are divided between assistant coaches. But with only head coach J.D. Forrest and Porter behind the bench the last two seasons, Forrest managed the defense and power play, and Porter managed the forwards and penalty kill. With the addition of assistant coach Sheldon Brookbank this week, expect Brookbank to primarily focus on the defense and Porter to do the same with the forwards, but everything else remains up in the air. Something to remember is that Brookbank was Alex Nylander's assistant coach at the NHL level in Chicago during Nylander's best NHL season in 2019-20, when Nylander scored 26 points in 76 games. He knows what Nylander needs to do to find success. -- Haase
21. Of the Penguins prospects on NHL deals who became free agents this summer, only forwards Anthony Angello (St. Louis) and Kasper Bjorkqvist (Finland), and defensemen Niclas Almari (Finland) and Cam Lee (Russia) have signed elsewhere. Goaltender Alex D'Orio, forwards Jordy Bellerive, Justin Almeida and Jan Drozg, and defenseman Will Reilly remain available. Some of them are open to moving to Europe (even to Russia, like Lee), but a hold up for them now is that most European leagues have limits on how many import players can be on the roster, and those spots are largely filled by this point in the summer. It'll be interesting to see where they all land. -- Haase
