2022 NFL Draft: Steelers do something they haven’t done since 1968 ahead of first season without Big Ben

During the 2022 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers did something they haven’t done since 1968: acquire two quarterbacks in the same draft. Pittsburgh used its first-round pick to select former Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett. The Steelers’ final pick was used to select Chris Oladokun, who quarterbacked for three different schools that included a successful albeit brief run at South Dakota State. 

The Steelers now have their four training camp quarterbacks in place with the selections of Pickett and Oladokun. The two rookies will share a quarterback room with Mitchell Trubisky and Mason Rudolph. Pickett will get a chance to compete with both quarterbacks to be the team’s Week 1 starter. Oladokun could pull off an upset and make Pittsburgh’s 53-man roster as the third-string quarterback, but the more realistic scenario is him earning a spot on the practice squad coming out of camp. 

Oladokun comes to Pittsburgh after putting up solid numbers at South Dakota State. Last fall, Oladokun completed 62.3% of his passes for 3,164 yards with 25 touchdowns and seven interceptions. In 2019, while playing at Samford, Oladokun completed 62.1% of his passes with 18 touchdown passes. He also ran for eight scores while amassing nearly 500 yards on the ground. 

“We decided that we wanted to add another quarterback to our roster,” Steelers GM Kevin Colbert said of Oladokun. “This young man, we brought him in for a pre-draft visit. Very mature, very smart. Impressed us, not only on the field but with his off-the-field talents and intelligence and just demeanor.”

Pittsburgh’s quarterback position battle should make for an exciting training camp for the Steelers, who will have a new starting quarterback after Ben Roethlisberger retired in January after 18 seasons. Each quarterback has their own unique case to be the team’s new starter. Pickett returns to Pittsburgh following a record-setting 2021 season at Pitt. A former Pro Bowler with the Bears, Trubisky brings experience from his time in both Chicago and Buffalo after spending the 2021 season with Josh Allen and then-Bills offensive coordinator and current Giants head coach Brian Daboll. Rudolph has the most experience with the Steelers having started in 10 games during his first four NFL seasons. 

While Pickett will be given a chance to compete for the starting job, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin isn’t worried about which quarterback will take the first snap at OTAs. 

“I haven’t even begun to think about that, to be quite honest with you,” Tomlin said. “We’ve got so much more work ahead of us from a classroom perspective and things of that nature as we push into Phase 2 and so fourth of our offseason. That’ll clear itself out, I’m sure.”