While other Steelers QBs compete, Chris Oladokun takes lack of practice reps in stride

Much of the attention during Pittsburgh Steelers training camp is on the quarterbacks. But while the eyes of many are fixated on Mitch Trubisky, Mason Rudolph and Kenny Pickett during practices, no one is paying much attention to Chris Oladokun.

His eyes, too, are on Trubisky, Rudolph and Pickett. That’s because, through three practices at Saint Vincent, Oladokun was not given a rep during a team drill.

That’s life as a rookie seventh-round pick for a team with two other newcomers at the position and a purported competition for the starting gig that involves the three quarterbacks not named Oladokun.

“I am just rolling with the punches,” Oladokun said Friday. “It’s all part of the plan. (Coaches) are doing a good job of staying with me and letting me develop. I get extra work after practice with (assistant quarterbacks coach David Corley) and go through the script and get all the throws I need.

“So, at the end of the day, it’s just about staying locked in and, during practice, getting reps by doing my own, by going through the play when it’s Kenny or Mason or Mitch going. All in all, it can be tough. But for me it’s about staying locked in, waiting for my opportunity.”

Chris Oladokun, the Steelers’ other rookie quarterback, is the “fourth wheel” in what initially was billed as a three-man competition. https://t.co/pBO7qSiX9Q

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) July 2, 2022

Operating with four quarterbacks can be a challenge within the constraints of time and practice reps, particularly as collective bargaining with the NFLPA continues to limit practice time. While the Steelers have unfailingly carried four quarterbacks on camp rosters through the years, over the past decade or so it wasn’t much of an issue because Ben Roethlisberger’s veteran status typically meant he took off every third day and would work a half-schedule for another one-third of the workouts.

Roethlisberger, of course, is gone — and coaches are eager to get Trubisky and Pickett as much work as possible in the offense and with their new teammates. Rudolph is the lone holdover at quarterback — in his fifth season with the team — but as a purported candidate to start, coaches also want to give him as many reps as possible.

That leaves Oladokun spending team drills standing behind the play, often miming taking snaps and rolling out or delivering “throws” as if he was the one actually taking part in the rep.

“Definitely getting mental reps,” Oladokun said. “When those guys are going, I am making sure I am locked in, I know what play we are running, I am going through the reads.

“It’s good to sort of steal a rep back there even though I am not in. I am still acting the quarterback, seeing the defense, seeing what coverage we get. And it’s really beneficial for me.”

Oladokun said he trusts that the coaches have a plan for letting him show more of what he can do at some point during camp. He also has been spending extra time after practice each day, throwing to receivers or running backs, taking snaps and drilling footwork and dropbacks. Corley is a new hire this year, a position newly-created that specifically is intended to benefit the pair of rookie quarterbacks. Oladokun and Corley work closely.

Though he’s not getting opportunities during seven-on-seven or 11-on-11 drills at practice in a physical sense, Oladokun said he “feels really good” about the progress he’s made mentally in picking up a new offense and adapting to the pro level.

“You walk in right after the draft and it’s a whole new playbook, and then come back over the summer going a month straight with just studying,” Oladokun said. “I feel so much better about it (now). It’s not the same as actually getting those reps and doing it physically, but getting the mental reps, it’s something I have done in college before and I am doing it now so it’s nothing new to me. I’m just going to continue to develop.”

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