Despite being the first quarterback off the board in the 2022 NFL Draft, Pittsburgh Steelers rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett still has had his critics all year. In fact, now that the NFL season has concluded many people believe Pickett is the second best quarterback in the class behind Brock Purdy of the San Francisco 49ers.
Today this was on display as Chris Trapasso of CBS Sports put out a redraft of the 2022 NFL Draft with Purdy going to the Saints at pick 16, four spots before Pickett.
“The Saints pull the trigger on a quarterback and pick Purdy to operate the offense,” Trapasso wrote.
Purdy was the last pick of the draft in real life, but played exceptional in the Kyle Shanahan designed offense of the 49ers. Purdy saw his first game action Week Five against the Carolina Panthers, but became stater after injuries to Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo Week 13 against the Miami Dolphins in which he led the 49ers to a win.
Purdy finished the regular season 5-0, throwing for 1,374 yards, 13 touchdowns, and four interceptions. He ended up leading the 49ers to the NFC Championship game before being injured in that game.
In Trapasso’s redraft, the Saints pair Purdy up with Pickens, who is drafted at 19 in Trapasso’s draft, right before the Steelers, creating a Purdy to Pickens connection. The Steelers, at pick 20, still land Pickett who had a good season of his own.
“With Pickett still available and Pickens gone, Pittsburgh decides to pick their quarterback again. It was a shaky start for the young passer, but he improved down the stretch.”
For Pickett, like Purdy, he did not start the season as the Steelers starting quarterback, but was given the job after inadequate play from Mitch Trubisky. As Trapasso wrote, Pickett did start of his season shaky, throwing only two touchdowns and eight interceptions in his first five games. However, he turned his season around after the bye week, helping the Steelers, who were 2-6, finish the season 9-8 and almost making the playoffs, as he played smart football and led four game winning drives in the back half of the year.
Pickett finished his rookie season, throwing for 2,404 yards, seven touchdowns, and nine interceptions. His numbers were not as good as Purdy’s but to be fair to Pickett he was not playing as good as an offense, as the 49ers have arguably the best offensive scheme with offensive genius Kyle Shanahan as their head coach.
After both Purdy and Pickett’s rookie seasons, Purdy is out in front due to simply playing better. However, a career isn’t defined by a players rookie season, instead by their whole career’s work. It will be an interesting debate as time goes on to see who will end up being the better quarterback, but with Pickett’s improvement over the season it wouldn’t shock me if he keeps improving and ends up a better quarterback than Purdy.
