Mike Tomlin refuses to name a Week 1 starter, leaving the Steelers QB competition open

If you are a Pittsburgh Steelers fan and you believed the team had already made up their minds regarding their Week 1 regular season starter, you wouldn’t be alone. Considering the fact Mitch Trubisky has taken the vast majority of the first string repetitions since the start of training camp, it wouldn’t be considered a stretch to assume he’ll start Week 1 when the Steelers play the Cincinnati Bengals.

However, things might be changing as the team prepares for their Week 3 NFL Preseason game vs. the Detroit Lions at Acrisure Stadium.

With the play of rookie Kenny Pickett, Mike Tomlin isn’t about to name a starting quarterback at this juncture. After practice Monday Tomlin was asked if he was ready to name a starter for the regular season opener, something many teams like the Carolina Panthers have done, and he stated this week and the game Sunday will be significant to determining many roster spots.

Including quarterback?

His response was simple, “Yes.”

This per Brooke Pryor of ESPN:

If the competition was over, Tomlin would just have to say Trubisky is their guy, and Pickett and Rudolph will be competing for backup duties. No one would be shocked. But he didn’t say that. Him leaving the job as an open competition puts an onus on the game Sunday, and also makes it intriguing how the team will deploy the quarterbacks.

Will Trubisky start the third straight preseason game?

Has Pickett earned the right to play with the starters at some point to see what he can do?

How does Mason Rudolph fall into this equation?

There is a strong likelihood Trubisky is the player who comes out of the preseason as the starting quarterback, but it’s safe to say Pickett has certainly narrowed the gap between the two quarterbacks.

Let us know your thoughts on this story in the comment section below, and be sure to stay tuned to BTSC for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they prepare for the rest of the preseason.