Facing an injury situation with starting quarterback Kenny Pickett, the Pittsburgh Steelers are signing former Penn State star Trace McSorley, according to a Monday afternoon report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter. McSorley will join the franchise as a practice squad member ahead of a Thursday game against New England.
Facing an injury situation with starting quarterback Kenny Pickett, the Pittsburgh Steelers are signing former Penn State star Trace McSorley, according to a Monday afternoon report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter. McSorley is set to join the franchise as a practice squad member ahead of a Thursday night game against the New England Patriots.
On Sunday, Schefter reported that Pickett would miss “a couple weeks” due to a right ankle issue sustained during a 24-10 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Backup quarterback Mitch Trubisky stepped up to play the rest of the way and is the anticipated starter versus New England. Pittsburgh veteran Mason Rudolph remains on the active roster, so McSorley projects as an emergency third option at QB for at least this week.
The 28-year-old McSorley previously spent time with three other NFL organizations since 2023 opened.
He finished last season with the Arizona Cardinals and saw game action in January, then signed with New England in April, reuniting him with Penn State teammate Mike Gesicki under the direction of former Nittany Lions head coach Bill O’Brien. The Patriots released McSorley in late August, and he then resurfaced as a practice squad player for the Chicago Bears from mid-October through mid-November as that team dealt with an injury to Justin Fields.
McSorley’s most recent regular-season pass occurred during a Jan. 8 Arizona loss to the San Francisco 49ers. He finished last season with five interceptions, no touchdowns and a 54-percent completion rate on 83 total pass attempts. Prior to that work, which included one start, his only regular-season work came with the Baltimore Ravens.
A sixth-round draft selection of Baltimore in 2019, McSorley completed 3-of-10 throws in a Ravens uniform for 90 yards and one score, which came in 2020 and remains his only NFL touchdown. He ended up on the Ravens’ roster fringe in 2021 and was ultimately signed away from that practice squad by Arizona during the 2021 campaign.
A three-time All-Big Ten selection, McSorley started 40 consecutive Penn State games, becoming the program’s all-time leader in passing yards (since topped by Sean Clifford), touchdowns accounted for, and victories for a starting quarterback (since topped by Clifford). He finished 31-9 as a Penn State starter with wins in the 2016 Big Ten Championship and 2017 Fiesta Bowl.
“If you’re coming up with a list of characteristics or attributes or things that you were looking for to determine a guy’s career, he’s got most of the boxes checked,” Penn State head coach James Franklin said late in McSorley’s senior season.
During his final college game, McSorley suffered a foot injury in the Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Day 2019. Penn State initially informed media members it was broken and he was absent to start the second half before returning to play through significant pain, leading three consecutive fourth-quarter scoring drives that nearly rallied the Nittany Lions out of a late 20-point deficit.
“He’s a guy who hates to lose, loves to win, and was willing to do anything for this team,” Penn State safety Garret Taylor said afterward. “… Trace wasn’t gonna let anything get between him and a W for this program. The ultimate competitor, the ultimate teammate, and definitely a guy you strive to be like.”
MY OPINION:
From the notebook of sportswriter who “needs to shoulder some of the blame for speaking it into existence” after spending the week warning fans of the red flags ahead of Sunday’s loss to the Arizona Cardinals:
* It makes me chuckle because the fans who wrote this on our message board had to be kidding.
* Then again, I’m not sure. Such are the feelings after losing to a team that came to town with a record/
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