In his first 25 games of his career, Pittsburgh Steelers second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett has left much to be desired from his play on the field.
Though he is 14-10 in 24 games as a starter, Pickett has just 13 touchdowns to 13 interceptions to date, and really just hasn’t looked like an overly competent quarterback in the NFL.
While head coach Mike Tomlin likes to state that a player can’t lose his job due to injury, that’s exactly what happened with Pickett, who missed four games while recovering from an ankle injury that required Tightrope surgery. While on the mend, Pickett watched the Steelers go from Mitch Trubisky to Mason Rudolph at quarterback and take off under Rudolph.
In two starts, Rudolph has led the Steelers to two wins with at least 30 points scored offensively in each game. Tomlin and the Steelers are sticking with the hot hand, starting Rudolph Saturday in the Week 18 season finale against the Baltimore Ravens despite Pickett being healthy.
For NBC Sports’ Chris Simms, that is an indictment on how the Steelers feel about Pickett moving forward.
“They can’t be happy with the way Kenny Pickett has played through his first two years,” Simms said to co-host Mike Florio on Pro Football Talk Wednesday. “Not that they’re disappointed, right? I don’t think you look at it and go, ‘Oh, it’s horrible.’ But I don’t think you’re certainly, certainly sitting there going, ‘Oh, it, it’s great,’ right?
“It’s one of those where you go, ‘Ah, it’s the 20th pick of the draft. We were expecting a little bit more out of this guy.'”
The Steelers certainly can’t be happy with Pickett’s performance and overall development. Some of that is their fault, bringing back offensive coordinator Matt Canada for the 2023 season. That undoubtedly hindered not only the Steelers’ offense, but Pickett as well before the franchise fired Canada.
Then, in the first game after Canada’s firing, Pickett had the best game of his career. Still, the Steelers scored just one touchdown in a 16-10 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 12. Then, the next week Pickett injured his ankle and missed the next four games. As he said Tuesday to reporters, one man’s misfortune is another man’s opportunity, and that occurred with Rudolph.
Fact of the matter though is if Pickett was playing well before getting hurt, the Steelers wouldn’t have stuck with Rudolph once Pickett was back. The second-year quarterback wasn’t providing the Steelers with enough consistency and splash in the passing game, which kept everything relatively limited offensively for the Steelers.
Rudolph’s presence changed that, and now the Steelers are sticking with the hot hand.
That decision could — and should — have implications in the offseason for the Steelers at the quarterback position.
“We saw what Mike Tomlin said earlier in the week, they’re playing the hot hand here. That’s not a good sign for the guy that was a first-round pick who was supposed to become the next franchise quarterback in Pittsburgh,” Florio added regarding Pickett and his future in Pittsburgh. “So far he isn’t. And everything’s pointing to them looking elsewhere and considering their options after the season to potentially replace Kenny Pickett.”
The signs are certainly pointing toward the Steelers at least bringing in some competition for Pickett in the offseason, whether that’s bringing back Rudolph — and letting him truly compete for the job unlike in 2022 — or going outside of the organization and taking a swing on a proven veteran or landing a quarterback in the draft.
None of this would be happening though, or even being discussed, if Pickett was playing up to expectations. He hasn’t yet. His tenure isn’t over, but it’s certainly on rocky ground.
