While the Pittsburgh Steelers just shipped QB Kenny Pickett to the Philadelphia Eagles, the Pittsburgh Pirates are celebrating their star rookie pitcher, Paul Skenes. The Steelers drafted Pickett, and the Pirates Skenes, to be the future of their respective franchises, but the latter, in a rare instance, had far more success than the former. How did it end up this way?
“This is … maybe the one time you might say the Pirates’ front office really got it right and the Steelers’ front office didn’t really have a plan”, former Steelers front office executive Doug Whaley said on 93.7 The Fan yesterday, contrasting the Pirates’ rookie pitcher with Pickett. “Everything that the Pirates did with Skenes led him to what he did last night. Now, Skenes had to actually go out there and perform. But they put the plan in place … not rushing him, making sure he was doing the right thing”. That even includes, he noted, pulling Skenes early out of a potential no-hitter
“That fit in their plan, and they have a vision for [Skenes], compared to what the Steelers had”, he said. ‘Oh, we’ll have a competition at camp’. I don’t think that was a competition. No, ‘We’re gonna wait and throw [Pickett] in the middle of a game’ … That just didn’t seem like a plan. That was kneejerk reaction. That’s what the difference is”.
Whaley is referring to the fourth game of the 2022 season. The Steelers ostensibly held a quarterback competition, with Mitch Trubisky “won”. Kenny Pickett began his rookie season as the backup, but Mike Tomlin pulled Trubisky at halftime in Week 4. Whaley also noted they had a bye week in Week 6, which is a convenient time to make a change.
But I find all of this to be rather ridiculous, specifically all of the talk about the Steelers’ lack of a plan for Pickett. I do not at all believe that he would have succeeded in Pittsburgh with even the best-laid plans. He failed because he had major flaws in his game that he did not correct.
At least, that is what we have to go on now. We will never know how Pickett might have played with Arthur Smith as his offensive coordinator instead of Matt Canada. Now in Philadelphia, he is behind Jalen Hurts, so he won’t be playing much, if at all. Could the Steelers have improved the “Kenny Pickett Era” by infinitesimal degrees? Perhaps, and even Whaley knows there were other issues.
“I’m not saying it’s all on the Steelers. Kenny [Pickett] is culpable as well, and if Kenny was Skenes, he probably could have overcome that”, he said. “Talent overcomes a lot. But because he didn’t have the talent, and the lack of plan, that’s why he’s in Philly now’”.
Here is where things get interesting, though, in discussing his exit, because what was their plan for him? Heading into the 2023 season, Pickett looked like a franchise quarterback. He had a flawless preseason and everything, so it looked like whatever plan they had was working.
If they misstepped anywhere—and they certainly did—it was in keeping Matt Canada. They chose to retain him in 2023 to keep the consistency for Pickett coming out of his rookie season, but it surely hindered more than helped. Perhaps with a better offensive coordinator in 2023, he could have improved his flaws. But we’ll only get a glimpse of the truth as his career develops. If he plays, and he shows improvement, then we can revisit the conversation over whether the Steelers screwed him up.
But as for him landing in Philadelphia, that’s another matter. We don’t even know who said what to whom and when, because various sources disagree. What we do know is that Pickett requested a trade, and the Steelers, having signed Russell Wilson, obliged.
