Shortly after the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft, head coach Mike Tomlin spoke to the media about it. Tomlin and the Steelers admitted they made some calls about potentially trading up but in the end the plan came together and there was Pickett still on the board at 20.
Tomlin noted that Pickett will compete for the starting quarterback job in 2022 with veterans Mitch Trubisky and Mason Rudolph. Pittsburgh signed Trubisky as a free agent this offseason to be a bridge starter if need be but with Pickett being the most pro-ready of the quarterback class on the team, this position battle should heat up in the summer.
Another interesting note from Tomlin’s presser was that he indicated the team had Pickett rated much higher than any of the other quarterbacks in this class. Based just on the level of interest, I would have assumed the team had Pickett and Liberty’s Malik Willis much closer.
