If you feel like getting mad on the Internet this Wednesday, Colin Cowherd is putting this one on a tee for you. A day after proclaiming Kenny Pickett and the Pittsburgh Steelers could win a playoff game but not defeat the AFC’s top quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and other notable names, Cowherd doubled down on his critique of Pickett. In his view, Pickett isn’t a bad quarterback. Just not a great one.
“It all comes down to Kenny Pickett,” Cowherd said on his The Herd radio show. “I don’t see greatness. I see very good.”
Cowherd illustrated the point by noting the Steelers have only won Super Bowls with Hall of Fame quarterbacks in their prime. Terry Bradshaw won four rings in the 1970s. By the end of the decade, he was older but was years removed from the stumbling blocks early in his career. And the Steelers had opened up their passing game more than they did when they captured their first two trophies, Bradshaw now confidently firing deep to Lynn Swann and John Stallworth as the team picked up their third and fourth Lombardis.
Ben Roethlisberger won his two Super Bowls in his 20s but couldn’t win a third ring in his career. He went to one more in 2010, a game in which Cowherd incorrectly says the Steelers were “blown out” (they lost 31-25) but noted that once Roethlisberger got older, Pittsburgh couldn’t recapture that early-career magic.
For Cowherd, he doesn’t see Pickett as someone who will get the Steelers over the hump.
“I think Kenny Pickett has a chance to be a very good quarterback. Good B, B-plus guy. Maybe a little more mobile Kirk Cousins. A much more accurate throwing Dak Prescott. Somewhere in that mix.”
The biggest knock on Pickett has been his ceiling and whether he has the talent to become a top-five quarterback in the league, the type of guy who can compete with All-Pros like Mahomes, Allen, Joe Burrow, and all the other loaded names in a stacked AFC. Pittsburgh’s bet is on Pickett becoming a top-10 quarterback and surrounding him with a great team. An improved offensive line, a strong set of skill players, a defense that will keep the score down. Build a team that can consistently make the playoffs and at some point, you’ll break through and make a run.
On paper, the Steelers look like a strong team and certainly a better offense than a year ago. Though it’s only been preseason, the starters, Pickett included, have looked sharp and far more explosive than they were in 2022.
“Pittsburgh’s history is they go to Super Bowls and win them with a great quarterback in his physical prime,” Cowherd said. “I see Kenny Pickett as a good quarterback about a year away from his physical prime.”
Before getting to a Super Bowl, the Steelers will have to get back to the playoffs and win a game there. They’re looking to make the postseason after narrowly missing out a season ago and they’re searching for their first postseason victory since 2016, one of the team’s longest droughts of the past 50 years.
