The Pittsburgh Steelers come into the 2022 NFL season with a major issue at quarterback.
With their long-time starting QB Ben Roethlisberger having retired last season, the team looks to two new QBs to replace him.
Those two players are former Chicago Bears starter Mitchell Trubisky, and 2022 draft pick Kenny Pickett.
However, these two quarterbacks don’t seem to inspire confidence with people outside of Steelers Nation.
Those fans and pundits believe there’s a serious problem with the team in the hands of those two players.
But is that the only problem they have going into 2022 and is it as serious as others think?
Critics Point To Failures Of Trubisky As A Problem
Currently, things look as if Trubisky will become the next starting quarterback for the Steelers.
However, his last starting role ended with him being yanked around in Chicago.
But even with the issues in Chicago, he finished his time there with a winning record.
While that part of his statistics look good, a deeper look shows problems.
What this is ignoring though is Trubisky being a 1 read QB. Ben had an ability to read past the first option, Mitch does not, and this offense is built around Diontae being put in spots to succeed
— Jake From StateFarm® (@Parry_FF) April 15, 2022
Trubisky has major issues looking past his first read.
If he doesn’t see that first option open, he runs with the ball instead of progressing through his options.
However, defenders of him point to the horrible coaching in Chicago that wasn’t helping him fix this issue.
If the coach is the problem, then having Mike Tomlin as his coach will fix this.
But if it isn’t, the problems of his lack of quarterbacking skills will be a downfall in Pittsburgh.
Critics Don’t Like Pickett Any More Than They Do Trubisky
With the potential downfall of Trubisky on the roster, the Steelers made a move to draft Pickett as a backup plan.
While Steelers Nation sees Pickett as the future of their team, his full college career makes other think twice about this.
During his time as a college quarterback, he had issues with fumbling the football.
30 TDs in 5 college seasons without Addison. Pickett fumbled 38 times in five seasons at Pitt and lost 26.
Ya boy has more fumbles than TDs without Addison.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/mjS9I70VSn
— marcgutter (@MGutter113) June 23, 2022
However, his last season in college saw him make some improvements with his controlling of the ball.
But with his past of lost fumbles, it could be an enormous problem for Pittsburgh if he becomes a starting quarterback.
With that in mind, it might be the reason that he is currently playing with the third-string offense.
The Athletic's Mark Kaboly reports that Steelers QB Kenny Pickett worked exclusively with the third-string offense- suggesting Mitchell Trubisky has a clear lead for the Week 1 starting job. pic.twitter.com/ImjwohtTjv
— 7️⃣7️⃣ WABC Sports (@77wabcsports) June 27, 2022
This also puts him behind Mason Rudolph, the backup for Big Ben when he was their QB.
Health Of Defensive Stars Could Be Another Problem For Pittsburgh
Defensive stars for Pittsburgh missed some games, something that hurt them in important games.
Stephon Tuitt, T.J. Watt, and Tyson Alualu all missed time in 2021 because of injuries.
If these stars miss any time in 2022, it could be another problem for Pittsburgh.
Both Watt and Alualu are healthy, and the team got Larry Ogunjobi to help them this season.
However, the biggest blow was when Tuitt retired at the beginning of June, hurting their defensive line.
Without him, any injury to their other defensive stars can easily hurt them in 2022.
It also proves to be another problem the Steelers are facing in a tough 2022 season.
The Steelers made the same mistake with Big Ben that they made with Bradshaw, and it took them around 20 years to recover from the Bradshaw mistake.