Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Steelers have a method with rookies, so expect Kenny Pickett to be 3rd string

When the Steelers drafted Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett with the 20th selection in this year’s draft, a lot of you thought he might start. Not me. I said that if the Steelers drafted him, Pickett should start. But he won’t. I wouldn’t have drafted Pickett. But the Steelers did. The so-called quarterback “competition” at training camp is a sham. The season will begin with Pickett as the third-string QB. He will be inactive on game days. You read correctly. Mason Rudolph will be the No. 2 quarterback. If Mitch Trubisky gets injured, Rudolph plays. Rudolph knows the system. (Trubisky is still learning it, but he’s a veteran.) If you don’t think any of this makes sense, welcome to the club. But it’s the way the Steelers do things. They don’t trust rookies, let alone a rookie quarterback. Ben Roethlisberger was drafted 11th overall in 2004. He came to Pittsburgh with at least twice Pickett’s pedigree. But the Steelers did not intend to start Roethlisberger as a rookie. Tommy Maddox was ahead of him on the depth chart. XFL MVP was the zenith of Maddox’s pedigree. Charlie Batch was also above Roethlisberger. Roethlisberger was third string then, just like Pickett is now. But Batch got hurt in the preseason. Maddox got hurt in the second game of the regular season. Roethlisberger took the reins and went 13-0, 14-1 including playoffs. But the intent was to not play Roethlisberger his rookie season. That’s how the Steelers do things. Their method is quirky, but it’s consistent, and it’s successful more often than it’s not. (With the definition of success being scaled back in recent years.) Pickett won’t play. You’ll get mad. #BestForBusiness

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