U mad, bro?: Steelers fans already sounding off about quarterback decisions; Penguins fans in goalie mode

Pittsburgh Steelers fans are in regular-season mode already when it comes to quarterback conversation.

It’s playoff time, so Penguins fans are in a lather.

And we discuss zoology on the North Side.

It’s quite the collection of reader responses in this week’s “U mad, bro?”

We begin with Jonathan. He asks a very pressing question about Steelers quarterback Mitch Trubisky. I suppose Jonathan is assuming that first-round draft choice Kenny Pickett is going to start.

“Does Trubisky still get paid?”

No, Jonathan. Only starting NFL quarterbacks get paid. Every backup has to practice all week and stand on the sidelines for free unless they get in the game.

For instance, Mike Glennon only played in four games over two years between 2018-19. I don’t know how the poor guy could afford to eat. Maybe that’s why he’s so skinny.

The NFLPA should really do something about this.

Up next is Deke. He sent a message complaining that Mark Madden and I were writing about Penguins goalie Louis Domingue too much.

“This is the fourth article about him already. Find something else.”

For now, he’s the Penguins’ starting goalie in the playoffs. Sorry. But you are going to see a lot more.

What do you want? More Maulers talk instead?

This person on Twitter disagrees with my assessment that New York Rangers coach Gerard Gallant risked ruining goalie Igor Shesterkin for the rest of the series by leaving him in the net to take a five-goal, second-period beating from the Penguins on Monday in Game 4.

I think he was ruined after gm1. Bought into his own hype possibly, and came crashing down.

— Apu De Beaumarchais (@j_bandersnatch) May 10, 2022

I’m not sure how that argument can be advanced when he won Game 2, stopping 39 of 41 shots.

But believe what you want. Despite the win, he still had shaky moments in Game 5, by the way.

Scott doesn’t like the idea of Kenny Pickett starting right away.

Trubisky is a young veteran who was a high draft pick and former Pro Bowler. There is every chance he could beat out a rookie , as he should. Mahomes and Jackson didn’t start as rookies. Ben was a backup to an XFL MVP

— Scott in Jersey (@blitzum) April 29, 2022

Trubisky was a one-year starter at North Carolina. Ben Roethlisberger was 22 and had played in the MAC.

Pickett will be 24 in June and had 49 starts at Pitt. Do you think he was drafted to be “slowly groomed”?

Trubisky may start in September for the sake of it. But that seems pointless to me. This isn’t a Malik Willis thing where Pickett is entering the NFL raw and from a small school. His polish, maturity and experience were big reasons why he was drafted.

If you heard Kevin Colbert’s comments on 105.9 The X last week, he advanced the same opinion, and you’d be warming up to the idea of Trubisky being the backup sooner, not later.

“FrankAndBeans” isn’t sugarcoating his thoughts about the selection of Pickett.

It's an awful pick. Steelers are about to find out what it's like to not have a franchise QB and be tempted to try to win the lottery every 1st rnd rather than draft best players available

— Franknbeans (@smetlydc2) April 29, 2022

Art Rooney II knew what it was like to not have a franchise quarterback in the ’80s and ’90s when his father and grandfather were running the team. Colbert knew in the early 2000s when he first took over as general manager before drafting Big Ben. Tomlin saw what life was like without one in 2019.

I think those separate, but very similar, experiences of what you are describing played a significant role in why they drafted Pickett.

Because they think he is a franchise quarterback.

If they don’t think that, then, yes, they should’ve gone through a year with Trubisky and Mason Rudolph. Then considered drafting a different quarterback in the first round next year.

If they truly think Pickett is a franchise-capable QB, then they should’ve taken him at No. 20, as they did.

They just better be right.

Finally, Tom didn’t seem to appreciate my reference about the pop-up goat and donkey farm that appeared in my neighborhood last week.

“What is another name for a donkey?”

Hmmmm. A burrow?

But I’m gonna guess that’s not the response you were expecting here, right?