When the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted QB Kenny Pickett in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft, they knew they were going down a road that hadn’t been down in nearly 20 years.
Since 2004, Ben Roethlisberger captained the Steelers offense, leading Pittsburgh to two Lombardi Trophies and three Super Bowl appearances. For most of his career, Roethlisberger was considered the best QB in the AFC North, trumping the likes of Andy Dalton, Joe Flacco, and whoever the Cleveland Browns threw out there for a long span of time.
However, after Roethlisberger retired, the power at the QB position in the AFC North shifted, moving towards the other teams in the division with the Ravens having Lamar Jackson, the Browns having Deshaun Watson, and the Bengals having Joe Burrow at the helm of their respective offenses.
While Kenny Pickett showed promise as a rookie, HC Mike Tomlin mentioned after practice Wednesday to Evan Washburn of CBS Sports that Pittsburgh needs to have the team around Pickett to be successful in the division this season.
“We better be a good football team, and what I mean by that is if you look at our division, the other teams have outstanding quarterback play and commitments to those quarterbacks,” Tomlin said on CBS Sport HQ. “And a lot of what they do is in and around those quarterbacks’ talents. And we are in a different place. We got a young quarterback who’s emerging. And so, we better level the playing field by being good around him, relative to the others.
And so, we don’t expect him to duel and beat those guys, but we better beat those teams. And so, we better be well-rounded and we better have great depth and we better be good in the line of scrimmages on both sides of the ball.”
While this may come off as a slight to Pickett from Tomlin by some readers, Tomlin is just giving his honest assessment of Pickett compared to the rest of the QBs in the AFC North. Burrow, Jackson, and Watson are far more experienced and proven at their respective stages of their careers than Pickett is heading into just his second season.
Lamar Jackson is a dual-threat QB who has won NFL MVP in the past and can beat you through the air as well as with his legs. Joe Burrow has quickly become one of the best QBs in the league, commanding a dynamic offense with weapons galore at receiver. Deshaun Watson missed over a year of football but has proven to be one of the most dynamic players at the position in the league during his time in Houston.
Ultimately, Pittsburgh shouldn’t expect to win many games in the AFC north should the game become a shootout with Pickett having to out-produce the other QBs in the division. That happened against the Bengals in Week 11 last season, resulting in Pittsburgh losing 37-30 at home. If Pittsburgh wants to win the North and be on top of the rest of the AFC North QBs, winning with a well-rounded offensive attack paired with a stingy defense is the way to go. That way all the pressure isn’t put on Pickett’s shoulders and the Steelers can embrace the style of play they’ve built this roster to play this offseason: bullying the other teams into submission with a power run game and an attacking defense.
