CINCINNATI – The player who began the offseason atop the Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback depth chart is not in uniform for their regular-season opener. Neither is the player who spent most of last season as their starting center.
As expected, No. 3 quarterback Mason Rudolph was among the inactives announced for Sunday’s game at the Cincinnati Bengals. Rudolph was the only returnee among quarterbacks on last season’s roster, but free-agent signee Mitch Trubisky and first-round pick Kenny Pickett passed him on the depth chart and will serve as starter and backup, respectively, in the 2022 opener against the Bengals.
As a rookie third-round pick last season, Kendrick Green made 15 starts at center but when the season ended – in part because of injury – J.C. Hassenauer was starting at the position. The Steelers signed Mason Cole to be their center in 2022, and Green lost out a training-camp competition with Kevin Dotson to start at left guard. Now, it’s apparent he lost out to Hassenaur for the right to be the gameday backup interior lineman, too.
Also inactive for the Steelers are wide receiver Steven Sims, defensive lineman Isaiahh Loudermilk and rookie inside linebacker Mark Robinson. A seventh-round pick, Robinson impressed throughout the preseason, but the Steelers value the special teams contributions of veteran Marcus Allen and elected instead to “give him a hat” (in the parlance of coach Mike Tomlin) for the first game.
The choice of Loudermilk as an inactive means third-round pick DeMarvin Leal will make his NFL regular-season debut. Leal and Pickett join starting wide receiver George Pickens (second-round pick), tight end Connor Heyward (sixth round) and running back Jaylen Warren (undrafted) as Steelers rookies who are in uniform for the season opener.
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