The "anybody but Mason Rudolph" crowd has to be happy today. They have to be jumping for joy that the Steelers signed (or, more accurately, came to an agreement with) free agent quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, who spent last season as Josh Allen's backup in Buffalo.
There has to be joy among that rather sizable camp that Trubisky will start training camp as the Steelers' starting quarterback and Rudolph will be back on the bench. Rudolph's popularity with Steelers fans was a lot higher when he was backing up Ben Roethlisberger, but once it became clear that he was in line to become the starter, he became public enemy Number 1 in these parts.
And that's when the "anyone but Mason" campaign began among fans and even many media members. It became almost a derangement syndrome that caused otherwise smart individuals to say and believe a lot of stupid things.
There was the silly pipe dreams of the Steelers getting Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson. There were discussions about Kirk Cousins, Carson Wentz and even Deshaun Watson.
When it became clear that the Steelers weren't getting one of those proven players, we started hearing people try and convince themselves that guys like Jacoby Brissett, Marcus Mariota and Tyrod Taylor were going to come in and save the day.
Things reached such a ridiculous level of stupidity among the "anybody but Mason" crowd that there were suggestions the Steelers should look into Colin Kaepernick — yes, that Colin Kaepernick. People were so distraught about the prospects of Mason Rudolph being the starting quarterback they suggested bringing in a guy who hasn't played in six seasons and was 3-16 in his last 19 games as a starter.
That being said, the Steelers have found their starting quarterback for 2022.
I don't hate the signing of Trubisky. I don't love it either. I have no idea how it will turn out, and we all knew they were going to add at least one more quarterback to the roster this offseason. And I do like that it is a two-year deal because that means if someone like Malik Willis falls to them in the draft, they can take him and bring him along slowly.
But the next trick among the "anyone but Mason" crowd is to convince everyone, including themselves, that Trubisky is actually an upgrade over Rudolph. Yes, I know, Rudolph didn't play great against the Lions last season — but at least he actually played.
Trubisky appeared in six games last season and mostly in mop up duty. He attempted a total of eight passes and spent the entire season holding a clipboard.
He does have pedigree as a first-round pick in the 2017 draft (second overall), but the fact that the team that picked him — the Bears — gave up on him speaks volumes about him. He had a great 2018, made the Pro Bowl, led the Bears to 11 wins and had 24 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, but he fell out of favor with Chicago because of his inconsistency.
Then in 2021 he became a free agent and was allowed to walk and he didn't have a single team pursue him as a starter. That's why he settled for a one-year, $2.5 million deal to be Allen's backup.
The amazing thing is Trubisky seemed to gain stock and really became a prized prospect far more by sitting out than he ever did by playing. It is like we are all supposed to forget some of what we saw in Chicago and believe he is coming to save the day.
I just don't know that the Steelers are markedly better with Trubisky than they were with Rudolph. And if they are hoping to dig into some first-round pedigree and hope it comes out, they already could have done that with Dwayne Haskins.
And there is no guarantee, if it is a fair competition, that Trubisky will beat out Rudolph and/or Haskins.
I don't know if Trubisky will work out, and I have to see a whole lot more than eight passes before I'm sold.
One group that didn't seem to get the memo that anyone but Rudolph is an upgrade, by the way, were the guys who set the odds in Vegas. The Steelers began Monday with 55-to-1 odds to win the Super Bowl, according to FanDuel. Shortly after the Trubisky news broke, their odds jumped to 70-to-1.
That in itself gives me great reason to be skeptical, but I am willing to be open minded and believe the magic of the Steelers organization will transform Trubisky into a big-time quarterback capable of leading the Steelers to playoff prosperity.
As for now, though, the only thing I see that will get fans excited is that he isn't Rudolph, and that was always an incredibly low bar to achieve.
