The Pittsburgh Steelers moved on from offensive coordinator Matt Canada yesterday, but some think that the issues with Pittsburgh’s offense lie with the personnel, particularly at the quarterback position. Analyst Gabriel Morency, a radio and TV host for various platforms, was on Ferrall Coast To Coast yesterday and called out QB Kenny Pickett and other members of Pittsburgh’s offensive personnel. arguing that Canada didn’t have much to work with.
“Let’s call it out for what it is. Look at the numbers. Kenny Pickett sucks. The guy should never should have been a first-round draft pick. He’s not much better than Zach Wilson, if he’s better than Zach Wilson,” Morency said. “He’s that bad. I don’t know if we can overemphasize this enough. He’s not very good.”
Morency then went on to criticize Najee Harris, calling him an “average running back” and said Pittsburgh’s offensive line isn’t good, either. While he acknowledged Canada wasn’t very good, he thinks fault lies with the players, as well.
“Two things can be right at the same time,” Morency said. “Matt Canada might have sucked, but so does the personnel on the team.”
While the Steelers’ offensive line and run game have improved (although RB Jaylen Warren has been more of a factor in the run game than Harris), the passing offense hasn’t. Ultimately, that falls on Pickett. Make no mistake about it, moving on from Canada was the right decision to try and jump-start a stagnant offense that only managed 10 points on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns. But now Pickett has to prove that he’s not the issue and that he can lead the Steelers as their starting quarterback now and in the future.
Pickett has thrown for just six touchdowns this season and 13 in 23 career games, with 22 of those being starts. He’s coming off a game where he only threw for 106 yards, and he was under the 100-yard threshold until the very last play of the game. That’s not good. With Mike Sullivan, someone Pickett is close with, taking over play-calling, maybe Sullivan can find the boost that Pickett needs to take his play to the next level. But if Pickett continues to struggle, the Steelers might have to confront the fact that he’s not the franchise quarterback they thought he was when they selected him 20th overall in the 2022 NFL Draft.
It’s not time to write off Pickett after 22 starts, all with Canada as his offensive coordinator. But if the struggles continue, it’s going to be hard to have much confidence in him as Pittsburgh’s quarterback of the future. The rest of this season is going to be supremely important for Pickett, and we’ll see if he can step up with a change at the offensive coordinator spot.
