While Kenny Pickett’s improvement down the stretch last season has gained him believers around the NFL, he faces no easy task moving his way up the ladder in the AFC. Throughout the conference, and especially in the division, the quality of quarterback play is the highest we’ve seen in a while. However, Pickett could be closer to moving up that ladder than some may think.
The Cleveland Browns’ revolving door at quarterback has at least come to a temporary stop with the mega contract they gave to former Pro Bowler Deshaun Watson. The Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals both seem to have found their franchise guys in Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow. All of them will likely start for their respective teams for at least the next few seasons.
Former Cincinnati Bengals WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Doug Gottlieb discussed the AFC North quarterback outlook on The Herd today.
“Kenny Pickett improved a ton from when he took over as the starter for Mitch Trubisky until the end of the season,” Houshmandzadeh said. “But when you look at the AFC North, where do you put him?”
“You put him at fourth, but hold on.” Gottlieb countered. “Deshaun Watson wasn’t good last year, It’s hard with all the time off…Lamar Jackson didn’t have a particularly good year, and then he got hurt. He was the least accurate quarterback in the NFL last year. [The Steelers] do have a good roster. They do have continuity. And it was peaking up at the end of the year”.
Both Houshmandzadeh and Gottlieb make good points here. On one hand, it’s a hard pitch to make to put Pickett anywhere but fourth in the division right now. Burrow, Watson, and Jackson are all far more accomplished than Pickett, and the onus will be on Pickett to change that narrative this season.
However, maybe acting like the guys in front of him are in another stratosphere than Pickett is the wrong approach too. Watson hasn’t played a good season of football since 2020. Jackson has been good, but not elite since his MVP season in 2019, and has also struggled to stay on the field. Burrow is the only guy in the division who has been a consistent year-in, year-out producer.
As Pickett moves into Year Two, he likely gets six matchups against these three quarterbacks, assuming all stay healthy. They should all be tough games, but he will have no shortage of chances to prove he can hang with them for years to come.
