Trubisky, Rudolph, Pickett all stake out some successes

There has been a lot of attention on the three main quarterbacks in Steelers camp. Fans can't stop talking about it, and we've been writing about it just about every single day. Whether you want to see Mitch Trubisky, Mason Rudolph or Kenny Pickett as this team's starter, you were probably satisfied with the outcome in Saturday's 32-25 victory over the Seahawks.

And, so was their predecessor:

Much like we have throughout training camp, I'm going to split this up and go over the things that went right and wrong for Trubisky, Rudolph and Pickett individually. The good news is we have more than enough data on all three guys.

The quarterbacks went in order of where they rank on the depth chart, and Mike Tomlin didn't deviate too much from how he outlined the division of labor between the three. Trubisky played the first two series, taking up nearly all of the first quarter. Rudolph covered the final three series of the first half while Pickett handled all of the reps in the second half.

MITCH TRUBISKY

Stats: 4 for 7, 63 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 126.8 QB rating

• Trubisky looked like the No. 1 guy. He was calm in the pocket. He made throws when the line was pushed back into him. And, most importantly, he took care of the football. None of his throws were put in any real danger. What's even better about that is they didn't have to be. 

• Two of Trubisky's throws stood out. The first came one play prior to his touchdown pass to Gunner Olszewski, which was a slam dunk. On third-and-6, Trubisky stood in the pocket and had a rusher in his face very quickly. However, he didn't waver and fired a strike to Olszewski, who was running a slant. Olszewski then did what he does best and created some room to run after the catch, turning it into a 25-yard gain:

• The second came on the first play of his second series. Off play-action, Trubisky once again stood in the pocket, waited for Connor Heyward to gain just enough separation while running a 10-yard dig and put one up high where only Heyward could get it for a gain of 16 yards. Credit to the offensive line for giving Trubisky the time, but he waited, didn't force the play, trusted his receiver to get open and fired a strike. And, it was a pass beyond 10 yards over the middle. That's a sight every Steelers fan should cherish.

• Trubisky channeled the Ghost of Ben Roethlisberger Past on a second-and-8 play. Darrell Taylor came through the middle untouched and appeared to have Trubisky dead to rights. Instead, Trubisky shrugged him off with seemingly minimal effort, scrambled right, kept his eyes down field, then ended up salvaging the play with a 4-yard scamper out of bounds. Trubisky is an athletic guy with good mobility, but he looked a little bit like 2005 Big Ben on this play:

MASON RUDOLPH

Stats: 9 for 15, 93 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 100.1 QB rating

• Rudolph's day did not get off to a great start. On his first drop back, Dan Moore was beaten cleanly on Rudolph's blindside, and Boye Mafe came in for the uncontested strip sack. Rudolph, however, was keen enough to find the ball, pick it up and try to find an open Heyward cutting across the middle, but Shelby Harris was there to take him down immediately. Rudolph deserves credit for keeping that play alive and, most importantly, keeping possession of the ball.

• Two plays later, Rudolph made the throw of the night. It was the only place the ball could be for George Pickens, and Rudolph put it right on the money:

• Rudolph also did a great job of leading the offense down the field on a 17-play, 81-yard drive that chewed up 8:22 of the clock in the second quarter. There was a great mixture of play calls, but Rudolph made things happen by selling the play-action a couple times and making a couple of very good throws. The drive stalled out at the 3-yard line, but the Steelers at least got a field goal out of it.

• Unlike Trubisky, Rudolph had multiple throws that could have resulted in interceptions. Two of them came on the aforementioned 81-yard drive. One throw he tried to force to Heyward in double coverage, and Josh Jones dropped an interception:

The other came on third-and-goal at the 3-yard line when Rudolph tried to hit Steven Sims cutting inside, but the defender was right there to knock it away. Definitely a throw that was too close for comfort.

KENNY PICKETT

Stats: 13 for 15, 95 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT, 132.6 QB rating

• We really didn't get a chance to see Pickett test the waters as much, but that might have been by design. There were a lot of short throws, but Pickett completed a very high percentage of them. In fact, Pickett completed his first 10 passes before failing to connect on a deep ball to Christian Blake running a go route. But, Pickett often made good reads, completed passes and moved the offense down the field. Can't ask much more than that.

• It's not surprising, but Pickett was most effective when he had the chance to move around and make plays with his legs. Whether it was a designed rollout or he tucked it away and ran, Pickett seems to be the most lethal when he gets his legs involved. What can make him special is he's been accurate when making throws on the run. 

• But with that style of play comes a lot of risk. Not only does it put him at a higher risk of injury, but Pickett may also try to do a little bit too much. We've seen it happen before when Roethlisberger was a young pup. He never gave up on a play. Then over time, he learned how to take his lumps and fight another down. Pickett was sacked twice, and both of them happened trying to extend the play:

It's just something he's got to learn -- how to manage the risk factor on those plays. Above all else, don't hurt yourself or the team by getting injured, unnecessarily sacrificing field position or turning the ball over.

• Pickett's finest moment came on his final throw. With defenders in his face, Pickett stood in the pocket, waited for Tyler Vaughns to come out of his break on an out route, then fired a strike on the sidelines. Vaughns made the defender miss, then ran in for the touchdown to put the game away with 0:03 left. All the Steelers needed was a field goal, but Pickett made an NFL-caliber play to set up the winner either way. With how he's struggled at times under pressure in practice, it was a wonderful development to see Pickett stand in and show a lot of poise in a big spot:

QB THOUGHTS

Nothing from this game is going to change the order of the depth chart. It doesn't matter how many "Kenny" chants there were or how many fans booed Rudolph before he even touched the football. Trubisky will still be No. 1, Rudolph will be No. 2 and Pickett will be No. 3.

All three quarterbacks did things well. They had a combined QB rating of 124.9. All three did their job in leading the offense down the field. And the good news is they did it in their own style. That might be the biggest takeaway from this game. If at some point in the regular season Tomlin needs to call on any of these three guys, Matt Canada's playbook appears to be versatile enough to be run by any of them without any governor.

However, now that Pickett has NFL stadium experience under his belt, and looked pretty good in the process, it will be interesting to see how much opportunity Tomlin wants to give him moving forward. We'll keep our eyes on that in Latrobe this week, and also see how the reps are split when the Steelers go to Jacksonville.