As important as it is to find a good quarterback, it’s arguably just as important to have a system in place where he can develop. Especially when the quarterback is a young guy. You need weapons around him, a good offensive line to protect him, and a coaching staff and a scheme that aligns with his talents. The Steelers have yet to find this recipe at the QB position.
On the surface, the Pittsburgh Steelers have failed to develop anyone at the QB position since the departure of Ben Roethlisberger. Give Kenny Pickett all the weapons in the world, and many say he still will never be great.
But in the NFL’s version of which came first, the chicken or the egg, questions are now starting to be posed if the fault is actually on Pittsburgh for not effectively creating an environment where a young quarterback can grow. The case study being used most often is Justin Fields, an undeniably talented quarterback who has had struggles acclimating to the NFL.
Colin Cowherd, while not giving really any credit to Pickett, called out the organizational mindset on The Herd Podcast.
“I think they have a Super Bowl-level roster missing one piece, but there’s no indication that they can elevate that one piece,” Cowherd noted. “Now, Kenny Pickett, I just think has limited talent, Justin Fields does not. But this is an organization where you kind of felt at the end, even with Big Ben, they were underachieving despite his enormous talent. So, to me, this is not the best for him. There are places for Justin Fields I think could work. But if the head coach is Belichick, Pete Carroll, Mike Tomlin, if the popular head coach and the winning head coach is a defensive guy, that’s the culture. The Steelers are heavy on motivation, inspiration, toughness, and sacks, and not being able to really move the chains consistently.”
Many fans are already skeptical of trading for Justin Fields, and Cowherd makes an interesting point. Would we just be wasting his potential if we got him? Can Tomlin develop a guy like that?
It takes a long time to see a quarterback fully develop, so there are very few coaches in the league we are confident can help maximize the potential of a young signal caller. But Tomlin certainly isn’t on that list. While I disagree slightly with Cowherd saying how much they “underachieved” with Ben Roethlisberger, I doubt you’ve ever thought of Tomlin as some sort of quarterback whisperer.
And the reality of the situation is he probably never will be. After almost 20 years as the head coach of the Steelers, you are what you are at this point. We know what Mike Tomlin is and what his teams will be. They play hard and rarely beat themselves but never have particularly prolific offenses.
Can that style win in the NFL? We saw both sides of the argument in the Super Bowl. On one hand, the Chiefs have the best quarterback alive, and he has taken them on his back to form a dynasty. Having a guy like him covers up so many other holes your team might have.
But on the other sideline, we saw the 49ers, led by Brock Purdy, who, while solid, isn’t anything the league hasn’t seen before. And San Francisco is almost built like the best-case version of this Steelers era (and I mean BEST case). Elite defensively and great weapons for your quarterback, who isn’t going to win you games by himself. It’ll get lost to history, but San Francisco was one play away from probably winning the Super Bowl this year.
If that 3rd and four goes differently late in the fourth quarter, maybe the narrative around building a winning NFL team is much different. But alas, the NFL is a results-based business.
