Mitchell Trubisky earned a significant title in the days leading up to the Steelers' season-opener against the Bengals. Trubisky was named as one of the Steelers' offensive captains on Monday, along with second-year running back Najee Harris. Defensive captains are T.J. Watt and Cameron Heyward, while Miles Killebrew is the special teams representative.
A day later, the former Bears Pro Bowler was officially named as the Steelers' starting quarterback by Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. Rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett will be Trubisky's primary backup, while Mason Rudolph is the Steelers' No. 3 quarterback.
"We're just really comfortable with what Mitch has shown us," Tomlin said during Tuesday's press conference. "He's a guy that came to us with with franchise quarterback experience, if you will. He's comfortable in those shoes. He's been the focal point of a football team and organization before. ... He took the Bears to the playoffs two out of four years. He has a winning record as a starting quarterback. Those things were attractive to us. His athleticism and mobility were attractive to us. He took care of the football in stadium. All our quarterbacks did, and I think I'd be remiss if I didn't say that.
"I thought all three of our quarterbacks represented themselves in us really well to this process. I thought they made plays. I thought they moved their units. I thought they took care of the football. So that made the decision making a challenging one, but also a fun one, as well."
Trubisky has clearly developed as a leader during his short time in Pittsburgh. He has also maintained his position as the Steelers' top quarterback despite this summer's emergence of Pickett.
"Mitch has grown a lot," Harris said of Trubisky during the final week of training camp. "He's got a good feel for everybody. ... He's a competitor, I'll tell you that. ... But that's what you want in a quarterback. You want a competitor and that's what he is."
Pickett was elevated to the primary backup spot following a successful training camp and preseason. The 20th overall pick in April's draft, Pickett threw three touchdowns against zero interceptions during the preseason while completing nearly 81% of his passes.
"Really pleased with the growth and development of Kenny; that's why he's listed as number two," Tomlin said of his rookie quarterback. "I thought his acceleration of development really took off once we started stepping into stadiums. His decision making the fluidity of it, his competitive spirit, his pinpoint accuracy, all of those things I thought really came to the forefront once we started coming into stadiums.
"I also think is reasonable to expect that growth and development to continue as we push into the regular season. We're excited about where he is and the ground that he's covered to this point and the ground he is going to continue to cover as we find out regular season rhythm. ... Just really excited about where he is and what he's capable of."
While he fell behind Pickett in the pecking order, Rudolph played well enough this summer to convince the Steelers to keep him on the roster despite reportedly receiving outside interest from other teams about a possible trade for the fifth-year veteran. Rudolph remains on the Steelers' 53-man roster after throwing two touchdowns and no picks while completing nearly 67% of his throws during the preseason. Rudolph did so while playing largely with Pittsburgh's second and third-team offenses.
"I've got so much respect for Mason Rudolph and his approach to this competition and how he performed," Tomlin said. "He didn't bat an eye. He didn't blink. He didn't pout about reps of what groups he was running in. He just helped those around him be better and get better. I think the young wideouts had an opportunity to grow and develop because of the spirit and the play and the leadership all of three quarterbacks."
