If you need more indications of the Pittsburgh Steelers standing by QB Kenny Pickett, Aditi Kinkhabwala offered it Wednesday afternoon. Appearing on 93.7 The Fan, she said four members of the Steelers coaching staff were “angered” at the media push and narrative that the team should move on from Kenny Pickett.
“There was a lot of chatter at the Combine doubting Kenny Pickett,” she told The Fan’s Andrew Fillipponi and Chris Mueller. “And I’ll tell you this. Multiple new members of this staff felt so charged, sort of so angered by that, that there’s most definitely a personal investment in seeing him succeed.”
Kinkhabwala didn’t specifically name those individuals, but the list of new staffers is easy to note. There’s a new offensive coordinator in Arthur Smith, a new wide receivers coach in Zach Azzanni, a new quarterbacks coach in Tom Arth, and two new assistants in Matt Baker (who has a quarterback background) and Mataeo Kambui.
Publicly, Pittsburgh has stood by Pickett. Mike Tomlin called him QB1 and believed his starting quarterback was on the roster. Owner Art Rooney II didn’t indicate the team would go in a different direction at quarterback, while GM Omar Khan said at the Combine he had full faith in Pickett’s ability to turn his career around.
If true, the Steelers won’t be players for any of the big-name quarterbacks linked to them: Justin Fields, Russell Wilson, or Kirk Cousins. Most reporting has said as much, though there’s been plenty of speculation about the team going in another direction. The national media has spent much of this offseason cycle trashing Pickett and his future with the team. Most recently, former Steelers’ safety Ryan Clark said Pittsburgh’s making the wrong move sticking with Pickett.
The coaching staff feels differently.
“I spoke to four separate staff members who all said it only makes them feel that much more strongly that they want to see Kenny succeed,” Kinkhabwala said.
Based on his first two years, Pickett isn’t on track for success. Only 13 touchdown passes with a 1:1 touchdown to interception ratio, a relatively low completion rate, and scant overall production are alarming. Historically, few players have had such little output and then turned their careers around. But Pittsburgh is banking on Pickett becoming an outlier, believing former OC Matt Canada was the core problem. With an experienced OC like Arthur Smith, Pickett will become the face of the franchise.
If they’re right, the Steelers’ patient and steady hand will be praised by those who criticized them. If not, the Steelers’ stubbornness will again be shown to be the organization’s Achilles heel.
