It’s been over a month since our last stats of the weird. And I’m itching to bring some half-relevant information to your attention. I stumbled across some random information the other day, not looking for it but finding it, and one positive record Pittsburgh Steelers QB Kenny Pickett holds.
He has the most passing attempts in team history without throwing a pick-six. That’s for a career, not referring to a player streak. And he’s the leader. Thanks to our friends at Stathead, here are the Steelers leaders for fewest pick-sixes among quarterbacks with at least 500 passing attempts with the team.
Fewest Pick-Sixes, 500-Plus Pass Attempts
| Player | Pass Attempts | Pick-Sixes |
|---|---|---|
| Kenny Pickett | 713 | 0 |
| Bobby Layne | 1,156 | 2 |
| Bill Nelsen | 591 | 3 |
| Mike Tomczak | 973 | 3 |
| Mark Malone | 1,374 | 3 |
Which Steelers quarterback has the second-most pass attempts without a single pick-six? Mason Rudolph and his 458 attempts. Isn’t this fun?
And if you wanted to look at the numbers relatively, which you know I love to do, Pickett, of course, is still in the top spot. In second place sits Bobby Layne at 0.17 percent, followed by Terry Bradshaw at 0.20 percent. This surprised me, considering Bradshaw threw 210 career interceptions, but only eight of them were housed. Ben Roethlisberger is fourth at 0.21 percent, with 18 pick-sixes.
Branching out to the entire NFL, Pickett currently ranks sixth in NFL history for most pass attempts with never throwing a pick-six. This doesn’t include streaks but an entire playing career. It’s an interesting list of the top names.
Most Attempts Without A Pick-Six, NFL History
1. Mitch Trubisky – 1,872 attempts
2. Brock Osweiler – 1,165 attempts
3. Steve Fuller – 1,066 attempts
4. Zach Wilson – 993 attempts
5. Bob Lee – 719 attempts
6. David Klinger – 718 attempts
7. Kenny Pickett – 713 attempts
So the NFL leader is…Mitch Trubisky. Guess it wasn’t enough to save his job. And what a list of names. Brock Osweiler second. Zach Wilson fourth. And who could forget Bob Lee?
If you’re wondering why Trubisky appears on the second list and not the Steelers one, he threw only 287 passes as a Steeler. This ranks him third behind Pickett and Rudolph for most without a pick-six in team history.
Maybe this list is populated by quarterbacks who didn’t pan out because they weren’t given more opportunities to throw more passes, increasing their odds of interceptions and returns for touchdowns. And the modern era is throwing fewer interceptions than any era before it, which is likely one reason why four of these seven names come from the 2010s and on.
What does all of this mean? Not much! This certainly isn’t a defense of Pickett or why he should be the Steelers’ starter or franchise quarterback. There is something to be said about his ability to take care of the football. His interception rate is historically low though so is his touchdown percentage. Of Steelers’ quarterbacks with 500-plus career attempts, Pickett has the franchise’s lowest interception and touchdown percentage, each sitting at 1.8 percent. In some ways, you almost wouldn’t be mad about him throwing a couple more picks because it might suggest he’s playing more aggressively.
But it doesn’t indicate what kind of quarterback he is or will become. It’s just a fun stat I’ll be keeping in the back of my mind throughout the 2024 season. He’s only a handful of attempts shy of passing up Klinger and Lee to move into fifth place. And you can bet if and when Pickett’s streak ends, we’ll have the stat in that week’s official stats of the weird column.
