The moxie, the swagger, the ability to extend plays and make throws on the run; an undying belief that they’re never out of the game.
Those are all similar things that former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and current quarterback Kenny Pickett seemingly have in common, at least early in their NFL careers.
In a segment comparing current quarterbacks on teams around the NFL to past signal callers for the same franchise, Good Morning Football’s Jamie Erhdal took an interesting route in her portion, comparing Roethlisberger and Pickett, in large part due to their late-game heroics early in their careers.
Big Ben to Big Ken, as Erhdal stated.
Kinda like the ring to that one.
“I’m gonna go Big Ben and Big Ken, Kenny Pickett and Ben Roethlisberger. I like it. Ben Roethlisberger in specifically his rookie year, he set a record in 2004. He had five comeback wins in the fourth quarter and six game winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime. You remember how Kenny Pickett ended his season last year as a rookie quarterback,” Erhdal said regarding the comparison between Roethlisberger and Pickett. “It was, I think four straight coming back. He had a great game on Christmas Eve against the Raiders in some terrible weather in Pittsburgh. Likable guys, kind of under the radar, blue-collar work ethic. Kenny Pickett having gone to Pittsburgh and already played in the city for four plus years, knows Tomlin. Tomlin seems to like these guys. He really has their backs.
“There’s something there with Big Ben and Big Ken.”
Both were first-round picks and entered their rookie seasons as backups, but Roethlisberger had considerably greater success—with a more veteran and established supporting cast that was ready and waiting for him to take over.
Pickett’s team is going to take more work to get to that point, but he also still has a lot to prove as a player himself, and unlike 18 years ago, there’s more pressure on the quarterback’s arm. It’s more difficult to rely on the run game today, but it seems the Steelers will try to do so as much as they can.
But coming out of that rookie season, the comparisons aren’t as far-stretched as they may seem.
Roethlisberger, of course, stepped into the lineup in Week Two due to an injury to Tommy Maddox against the Baltimore Ravens and then proceeded to help pilot the Steelers to a 15-1 record, reaching the AFC Championship Game in the process. That season, Roethlisberger recorded four fourth-quarter comebacks and five game-winning drives as a rookie, eventually earning Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2004, throwing for 2,621 yards, 17 touchdowns and 11 interceptions before coming up short in the AFC Championship Game.
Pickett didn’t win Rookie of the Year and didn’t make the playoffs, but he had three fourth-quarter comebacks and four game-winning drives — all in the second half of the season to help the Steelers go 7-2 and finish 9-8 on the year.
While they have different skillsets and are different sizes and styles overall, that moxie matters, as does the ability to perform in big moments.
Who knows what’s in store for Pickett moving forward. Having even a quarter of the career Roethlisberger had would be great, but based on his rookie season and his performances in big spots, the future is rather bright for Pickett. We’ll see if he can live up to the comparisons made by Erhdal — and by many within the fanbase trying to compare rookie seasons between the two.
