Patrick Peterson has quickly become one of Pittsburgh Steelers most outspoken proponents of QB Kenny Pickett and his chances to be the team’s starting 2024 quarterback. After implying Pickett should and would be the Steelers’ starter last week, Peterson doubled down on the thought on the latest episode of his All Things Covered Podcast, saying that Pickett would be his choice at quarterback.
Peterson and co-host Bryant McFadden mapped out who they think should be the team’s starter.
“I’m gonna go with Kenny Pickett,” Peterson told McFadden. “Here’s why. I know the season was not what, I agree, it should be a competition. I agree upon that. Because there is a new offensive coordinator coming in, a new regime coming. I get all of that. I feel like it should, it needs to be a competition.
“But if I had to hand the keys over to a guy, it would be Kenny Pickett. Because not only we went out and draft this guy as our franchise quarterback. It didn’t end up playing out the way that we thought it would. We fired our OC. We’re gonna give everybody a fresh start. And we drafted him to be our guy. So now we got a new offensive coordinator here. A new offensive mind, a new way of thinking on how to get the ball down the field, get the ball in important people’s hands.”
Firing Matt Canada mid-season, a franchise first for a coordinator change, the team hired Arthur Smith weeks ago. The organization made it clear they wanted an outside voice with experience. Smith served as the Tennessee Titans’ head coach in 2020 and 2021 and his success there helped him become the Atlanta Falcons’ head coach from 2021 to 2023. Smith is known for his run game but he turned around QB Ryan Tannehill’s career, a first round bust traded from Miami and became the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year in 2019. In his two years under Smith, Tannehill threw for 55 touchdowns as the Titans had top-ten offenses each year.
While Pickett has undeniably struggled his first two seasons, the Steelers missed out on seeing him post-Canada. Part of the reason Canada was let go was to see how Pickett would play under someone else. He had a strong performance in the first game sans Canada, throwing for 278 yards in a win over Cincinnati, before suffering a high ankle sprain the following week against Arizona. After Mason Rudolph led Pittsburgh to their strongest performances of the season, Pickett remained the backup even after getting healthy.
It makes 2024 a critical season. Pickett doesn’t have much more time to prove he’s the guy. But Peterson believes he deserves another shot. He kept the conversation around the offensive coordinator change and the Steelers’ uncreative offense that hampered Pickett’s play and development.
“We were just super stagnant,” Peterson said of the offensive scheme. “We did nothing to explore the defense. Like I just feel like we was very basic and elementary.”
It’s one of the first clear and public criticisms from a player, though by body language alone it’s obvious how unhappy the locker room was with Canada. If Peterson could see it from the other side of the ball, those on offense sure did. Smith is regarded as more creative and certainly has more experience compared to Canada, who never called plays at the NFL level before being promoted into the role in 2021.
Though Peterson kept an optimistic tone about Pickett, he agreed the job shouldn’t be handed to him. And he pointed out the areas Pickett needs to improve. There will be competition, something Peterson endorses.
“Somebody’s gotta go out there with the one’s. It’s gonna be Kenny, in my opinion. “It should be Kenny [starting]. But I also think it should be a quarterback competition. Maybe that does light a little fire under, under his behind.”
Pittsburgh has maintained the hope of re-signing QB Mason Rudolph, a pending free agent, to presumably compete with Pickett in camp. The structure of a summer competition is currently unclear. If Rudolph doesn’t return, the most likely alternative is a veteran equivalent, potentially even Tannehill, who would reunite with Arthur Smith.
While it’s unclear how Pickett will play in 2024 or if he’ll even start, it’s obvious Peterson is in his corner. Of course, it’s also a question if Peterson will be in Latrobe to watch the battle unfold. With a roster bonus due in mid-March, his future in Pittsburgh is even less certain than Pickett’s.
Catch the whole conversation below.
