Is Mitch Trubisky overvalued player on the Pittsburgh Steelers?

A recent article from NFL on CBS suggests that a quarterback is actually the Pittsburgh Steelers most overvalued player on the team in 2022.

Every offseason, NFL media outlets seem to give their opinions on the most underrated and overrated players on each NFL team. While we like to hear positive affirmation about undervalued players on the team, fans often turn a blind eye to players who are overvalued.

While this opinion didn’t resonate well with a large portion of Pittsburgh’s fan base, I truly believe that Ben Roethlisberger has been one of the most overvalued players on the Steelers for the past two years prior to his retirement. Though nothing is more important than a quarterback in the NFL, Roethlisberger lost the arm and mobility that earned him the ‘Big Ben’ nickname early in his career, and his efficiency took a major dive.

Now that Roethlisberger is retired and the Steelers roster looks very different in 2022, which player on the current roster is being overvalued the most?

According to CBS Sports, that player is newly signed QB Mitch Trubisky. While Trubisky has yet to take a snap in a Steelers uniform, NFL writer Jeff Kerr believes Trubisky is being overvalued already by fans and football media. Here are some of Kerr’s remarks in his article depicting the most overvalued player from each AFC team this year:

"Of the 47 quarterbacks with more than 500 pass attempts over the four years Trubisky started (2017-2020), he ranked 31st in passer rating (87.2), 26th in completion percentage (64%), 29th in touchdown percentage (4.1), and 37th in yards per attempt (6.73). Not exactly numbers beaming with confidence, but Trubisky appeared resurrected as a backup quarterback in Buffalo, learning new aspects of the game under Brian Daboll and the Bills’ offensive coaching staff… For a team that always has playoff aspirations and exceeds expectations, are the Steelers really going to trust Trubisky to run this offense? Training camp will be very interesting if Trubisky is the No. 1 quarterback."

It might be a little unfair to call Mitch Trubisky overvalued, as most fans probably have pretty low expectations for him — I know I do. The Steelers essentially signed him for high-end backup money, and it’s probably safest to assume that’s what he will be.

Is Steelers QB Trubisky overvalued?

While his statistical ranks over the past four years are certainly a little concerning, it’s important to remember that former Bears head coach, Matt Nagy, did him no favors with his vanilla offense. It’s probably why quarterbacks like Nick Foles, Andy Dalton, and Justin Fields had such a hard time getting anything going on offense as well.

Though Trubiksy didn’t get to see the field much as a member of the Buffalo Bills last year (just 6 of 8 passing for 75 yards during the regular season), he was one of the most impressive players in the league during preseason action. This probably had a lot to joining offensive mastermind, Brian Daboll.

Now that we are seeing Trubisky on this third offense in as many years, I don’t think it’s fair to call him overvalued. It’s true that the former second-overall pick has fallen grossly short of lofty expectations, but he seems to be a great fit for Matt Canada’s offense, and I think he could prove his competence early this year if given the nod as the starting QB.

It’s also important to consider that, despite his lackluster statistical production and rankings, Trubisky did help lead the Bears to a 29-21 record in four seasons — going 11-3 in a Pro Bowl year in 2018, via Pro Football Reference.

I don’t believe I have unreasonable expectations for Mitch Trubisky. I think the Steelers quarterback will be a low-level NFL starter to begin the year and if he doesn’t play well, he’s not going to have a job for long. Still, I think it’s a little unfair to call him overvalued when expectations are pretty low, to begin with.