PITTSBURGH --Skylar Thompson is the forgotten man at quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, but he was the first quarterback the team added this offseason.
Along with being outright cut by the Miami Dolphins, that has put a chip on the shoulder of Thompson, who is taking his chacne with the Steelers in stride.
“I’ve loved it,” Thompson said. “It’s been a great experience for me. I feel like I’ve really enjoyed the city, really enjoyed the guys on the team. It’s been a refreshing experience for me, and I’ve been excited to be here.”
To this point, Thompson has enjoyed reuniting with college teammate Will Howard. The now NFL teammates played together at Kansas State.
Howard and Mason Rudolph have earned more buzz. And, of course, Aaron Rodgers is the talk of town. Yet, Thompson hopes to earn a roster spot under the radar.
“I mean, I absolutely, full-heartedly believe in myself,” Thompson said. “And I think that’s what’s been special about this offseason is I went through some adversity last year and got challenged. I just used it to better myself this offseason and tried to have the best offseason I’ve had so far in the league. I really believe that that was the case. I have a lot of confidence coming in here.”
A seventh-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, Thompson was thrust into the starting role for the Dolphins far earlier than anticipated due to injuries. However, in his playing time, Thompson struggled and was injured.
He has completed 58.7 percent of his passes while throwing one touchdown and four interceptions in 138 pass attempts. Thomspon has 721 career passing yards and has added 25 rushing yards.
Thompson was released by the Dolphins, which caused some self-reflection. When the opportunity with the Steelers came up, Thompson jumped at the chance.
“When this opportunity presented itself to come to Pittsburgh, I was really excited, honestly, because I thought it would be a great fit for me. This organization, obviously its history and its background, but I thought the values and the way that it’s ran is very similar to myself and my core values and what I believe in. So I was really excited to have this opportunity here, and it’s been great,” Thompson said.
One thing that might work in Thompson’s favor is the Steelers offense, which is part of the Kyle Shanahan tree, just like Mike McDaniel’s offense. The verbiage is different, but Thompson has much experience in this system and has hit the ground running.
“There are definitely some similarities. Same tree. There’s definitely some carryover and formations concepts. I think that’s helped me a lot. Just kind of getting familiar with the playbook and understanding how we do things. It’s not all brand new to me. I think having experience in the league with the scout team and all that stuff, there’s not a lot of concepts that I haven’t had reps with. I think all that just builds up over time. It’s been a great experience getting into this system with Arthur and working with him as well,” Thompson said.
Last season, Thompson was initially the backup to Tua Tagovailoa. However, he suffered an injury, and the team turned to Tyler ‘Snoop’ Huntley as their backup instead. Huntley would take the backup job the rest of the season while Thompson was cut and put on the practice squad.
Thompson was a star at Kansas State before coming out in the NFL Draft. There, he played in 45 career games over five seasons, racking up 7124 passing yards and 42 touchdowns while rushing for over 1000 yards in the four seasons he played with the team.
Now, with the Steelers, Thompson hopes to make an impression and a surprise roster push.