If Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney II wants to end his team’s playoff drought, he’d better have an open mind about QB Kenny Pickett, NFL analyst Marcus Spears believes. Commenting on Rooney’s remark of having “had enough” of failing to win in the playoffs, he questioned whether the team’s quarterback play is sufficient to end the miserable run.
“So Mr. Rooney, are you feeling quarterbacky? Because that’s what you need in order to take these steps forward”, Spears said on ESPN’s NFL Live yesterday. “Cast[ing] no aspersions. Mason Rudolph played solid for them down the stretch. Kenny Pickett is young and maybe you don’t want to give up on him. I don’t think you have a quarterback on the roster that’s going to get you to where you’re talking about going, Rooney, so if you don’t address that, I feel like you’ll be impatient again next offseason”.
Rooney’s Steelers selected Pickett in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft. While he comfortably owns a career winning record, some of his statistics are dismal. His career 1.8-percent touchdown rate is the worst of any quarterback with 500 or more pass attempts. His success rate on throws is just 42.3 percent, and his 2023 rate dragged that down. Yet he has a 14-10 record with seven game-winning drives.
Pickett started the first 12 games of the 2023 season before suffering an ankle injury. He missed four games because of it, two of which Mitch Trubisky started before his benching. Mason Rudolph started the rest of the way, including into the playoffs. Pickett dressed as his backup in the regular-season finale and in the Steelers’ loss to the Buffalo Bills in the playoffs.
Rudolph led the Steelers to a 3-0 record in the final stretch of the regular season. It was enough to push them into the playoffs, where he struggled but rallied. After a red-zone interception that helped lead to a 21-0 deficit, he helped the offense go on a 17-3 run. It looked like it might be a game, but the Bills quickly shut the door on the next drive.
Still, Rudolph is an unrestricted free agent this offseason and had no market a year ago. Very few players suddenly blossom in their sixth year in the NFL. We have to be honest and realistic about assessing his skills and his potential. And about scales of comparison. Merely competent play would look better in contrast to Trubisky.
Rooney did express the belief that Rudolph may have more ceiling yet to reach, and perhaps he does. But what is that ceiling? Is it good enough to lead a playoff team? To win games in the postseason? Could he have the Steelers competing for a Super Bowl?
If not, then he would merely be their best option rather than the answer. And then Spears would likely be right about Rooney having that same impatient feeling a year from now when the Steelers go one-and-done in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs once again.
