Free agency and the start of the new league year are just a week away. Many things can change, but all signs point to Kenny Pickett getting another chance to be the team’s QB1 despite historically low scoring production and finishing the year on the bench while QB Mason Rudolph led the team into the playoffs. There is a solid portion of the fan base and the national media that are decrying this notion and writing the team off for the 2024 season.
History indicates that quarterbacks don’t bounce back or start to figure things out after as many starts as Pickett had made, so the naysayers very well could be correct, but there are reasons to be optimistic as well.
ESPN’s Get Up had Louis Riddick on this morning and he discussed the quarterback situation in Pittsburgh and gave some reasons for optimism.
“I think they are aware of the fact that what Kenny was subjected to under Matt Canada is not what is going to allow him to develop into the quarterback that he needs to become here in his third year,” Riddick said. “That’s why they went out and they got Arthur Smith and Arthur flew and met with Kenny Pickett going forward.”
The sample size is very small, but Pickett has played just under one and a half games in the NFL without Canada as his coordinator. In the full game he had against the Cincinnati Bengals, he had arguably the best game of his career. He completed 24 passes on 33 attempts for 278 yards. He didn’t have a touchdown pass, which is one of the big knocks on him overall, but a completion percentage of 72.7 and zero interceptions while leading the offense to its first 400-yard game in 59 outings is solid.
Beyond the box score, he was taking shots in the middle of the field. The first play of the game was a 24-yard pass to TE Pat Freiermuth in the middle of the field, and he made a similar throw later in the game. There were early signs of positive change without Canada calling the offense. According to Pro Football Focus, Pickett’s 91.6 overall grade in that game was the second-highest of his career after the Week 17 game against the Baltimore Ravens in his rookie season.
“I know in talking with Mike Tomlin, which has been many different times, he is someone who invests in people and he invests in them for the long haul,” Riddick said. “He is not gonna be swayed by what has happened in the two previous years, especially considering the fact that he knows that Matt Canada wasn’t the guy.”
This angle lessens the blame on Pickett while placing it firmly on Tomlin, but to Riddick’s point, he has always been loyal to a fault. Sometimes that works out for him and sometimes it doesn’t. Obviously, with Canada it did not work out. But thinking back to Bud Dupree, many had written off the former first-round pick after four seasons before he broke out with 19.5 sacks in his final two seasons with the team.
“He is going to go ahead and continue to build this football team, which offensive line-wise is getting much better,” Riddick said. “Broderick Jones is gonna be an absolute animal at right tackle. They have got running backs, they’ve got wide receivers, they’ve got a tight end. Now they need this quarterback to take the next step. If it’s Kenny, great. I believe that they wish and they hope that it will be Kenny Pickett.”
Pickett being the only quarterback on the roster at the moment, the Steelers have no choice but to hope that he can take that next step. They want Rudolph back in free agency, but there has to be mutual interest to make that work. They aren’t in range to select a top quarterback in the draft, and many of the free agent options are too old or too expensive to be a building block for the future.
This could all change with a surprise splash in free agency or via trade in the coming days, but Pickett is very likely to get another chance. If he doesn’t progress, there will be no further excuses or scapegoats to lean on.
