NFL schedule could actually play a factor in Pittsburgh Steelers QB race

Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett (QB11). Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett (QB11). Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The 2022 NFL Schedule is set to be released tonight. Here’s why it could have implications on who the Steelers quarterback is to start the season. 

While it doesn’t quite have the same buzz as the NFL Draft, some football fans are still anxiously awaiting the release of the 2022 NFL Schedule. Tonight on NFL Network, the full schedule for the upcoming season will be officially revealed.

Leading up to this, we already know the opponents that the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to be playing this year. In addition to seeing each team in their division, Mike Tomlin’s team will also face the AFC East (Patriots, Jets, Dolphins, and Bills) and the NFC South (Panther, Buccaneers, Saints, and Falcons).

This accounts for fourteen of the seventeen games they are set to play. The final three are based on records from the previous year. The Steelers will also face the Raiders, Colts, and Eagles. Here’s a look at their home and away opponents this year.

The Steelers will have one more away game than home this year (which is reversed from last season). But that’s not the biggest takeaway from this. What I’m most interested to see following the schedule release is how it could affect the starting QB outlook this year.

Steelers could choose their starting QB based on their early schedule

With a quarterback race that has the potential to be as tight as the one the Steelers will witness this summer, the coaching staff is going to try to take every factor into consideration when choosing their signal-caller for Week 1.

One of those factors could potentially be looking at the strength of the schedule early in the season. If it looks like Pittsburgh has a tough path opening on the road against a tough opponent or teams who had great defenses in 2021, perhaps that would be enough to keep them from throwing Kenny Pickett to the wolves to start his NFL career.

In the same way, if the QB race is close enough that it looks like there could be a path to early success, it’s possible that the Steelers could elect to start him from the gate.

Starting Pickett from Week 1 shouldn’t be viewed as a stretch — especially when you consider that he will be a 24-year-old quarterback with five years of college experience already under his belt.

While Pickett is remarkably just several years younger than Mitch Trubisky (who has been in the NFL since 2017), we know the Steelers didn’t take him in the first-round pick just to have someone else be the face of the franchise, so his time to shine will come sooner rather than later.

First and foremost, Kenny Pickett needs to show that he can compete during training camp and the preseason before he can even be considered in the running to start from day one. If the race is indeed close (like many predict it will be), it’s not insane to think that Mike Tomlin could weigh the early-season schedule when choosing his starting quarterback to begin the 2022 season.

Schedule