It seems like every day, more rumors swirl around the Pittsburgh Steelers and their quarterback situation. If you ask Mike DeFabo of the Athletic, the Steelers are out on the big-name quarterbacks expected to be available this offseason.
However, there are still plenty of people around the league who do expect the Steelers to be in on a big quarterback. Regardless of whom you believe, the majority of people will tell you QB Kenny Pickett is not the answer in Pittsburgh. Unsurprisingly, you can count Colin Cowherd among those. On Monday’s episode of the Colin Cowherd Podcast, the Steelers quarterback position was a hot topic between Cowherd and guest John Middlekauff.
“Do you think they’re sticking with Kenny Pickett or do they just don’t want to publicly hammer a local kid?” Cowherd asked. “Cause you can’t watch him and think that’s gonna win in the AFC. He could be the 14th to 15th-best quarterback in the AFC… I consider them to be about like the 20th-best football team. If Kenny Pickett starts, 20th-best football team in the league.”
It’s easy to understand where Cowherd is coming from. We saw Pickett start 12 games in 2023 and attempt 324 passes with only six touchdown passes. That means Pickett threw a touchdown on 1.9 percent of his passing attempts. That cannot work.
If your offense cannot score points, that puts a very low ceiling on your team’s potential. The fact that the Steelers won 10 games and made it to the playoffs is a testament to their running game and defense.
You can also make the argument that having a good running game and defense is why the Steelers are willing to give Pickett another shot. While Pickett, at this point, puts a hard ceiling on the Steelers’ potential, the defense and running game also establish a pretty high floor. Head coach Mike Tomlin, owner Art Rooney II, and general manager Omar Khan may be willing to invest the time in finding out more about Pickett with a genuinely competent offensive coordinator in Arthur Smith because they believe the rest of the team will keep the Steelers competitive.
However, all it takes is a couple of key injuries to cause the relatively high floor to fall out from under everyone and send the Steelers crashing into the basement. We all have heard the stark difference in record with OLB T.J. Watt on the field versus when he isn’t.
That’s why a quality quarterback is so important in the NFL today. Good quarterbacks can elevate the play of those around them. They can also paper over flaws elsewhere on the field. The argument could be made right now that the Steelers are relying on the rest of the roster to paper over the flaws at the quarterback position.
Maybe that’s why the Steelers want Mason Rudolph back. He was instrumental in getting the Steelers to the playoffs in 2023 by going 3-0 to end the regular season. If he does re-sign with the Steelers for 2024, Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette expects that there would be no hesitation to turn to Rudolph if Pickett struggles in camp or to begin the season.
Is Rudolph good enough to propel the Steelers up Cowherd’s perceived rankings? We can speculate until we are blue in the face and our fingers want to fall off. None of it matters until the Steelers take to the field in Week 1. Perhaps Smith can revitalize Pickett as he once did Ryan Tannehill. Or perhaps Cowherd is on to something with his original question: Maybe the Steelers are trying to protect Pickett while they quietly go about figuring out who the best outside quarterback would be for 2024.
You can watch the entire discussion between Cowherd and Middlekauff about the state of the Steelers below:
