Last year, the quarterback position for the Pittsburgh Steelers was terrible. They had three different starters who all brought different levels of poor play to the table. It seemed like the team upgraded by acquiring Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, but results have been ugly so far albeit in the preseason. Considering that Kenny Pickett looked like an All-Pro in the preseason last year, these results aren’t definitive, but they are concerning. However, Ben Maller of FOX Sports Radio believes that the Steelers would’ve been better off with Pickett.
Appearing on FOX Sports Radio’s show The Odd Couple, Maller spoke about how little he believes in the Steelers’ offense.
“[The Steelers are] gonna be the same as they have been,” Maller said. “It’s not gonna be any better with Russell Wilson. They should’ve kept Kenny Pickett, who also stinks. Pickett’s terrible.”
That’s a scorching hot take from Maller. Pickett was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles in March after reportedly not wanting to compete against Wilson for the Steelers’ starting job. With the Eagles, Pickett has looked just as bad as he was last year. He is reportedly in danger of falling to third quarterback on the Eagles’ depth chart.
If there are questions about Pickett even holding on to a backup job with the Eagles, how is he better than Wilson or Fields? True, neither Steelers quarterback has looked particularly impressive so far, but they haven’t looked bad enough to not deserve playing time. They’ve both shown flashes of ability that make them better options than Pickett.
Wilson has played much less than Fields in the preseason, but he’s still had a moment or two that should inspire some confidence. His deep shot to George Pickens last Saturday against the Bills didn’t end in a completion, but it was a good try. It also showed that Wilson still has decent arm strength and is willing to take shots down the field. Pickett did not provide that.
Fields looked rough in the first preseason game, but in the second game, he showed some improvement. It still wasn’t perfect, but his rare athleticism was on display. He also had more playing time against backup players, but he looked less overwhelmed. His upside is higher than Pickett’s.
What would this offense have looked like with Pickett as the starter? The Eagles are one of the best teams in the NFL, and if they can’t improve Pickett’s game, then maybe he just isn’t a very good NFL quarterback. The important part is the Steelers recognized that and tried to rectify their situation.
With the starters suiting up in the Steelers’ final preseason game, we’ll see if Wilson and Fields can improve on what they’ve already shown. Two preseason games should not have people revising history and clamoring for Pickett to return. It would take unreal levels of terrible play for the Steelers’ offense to be worse this year than it has been for the past few years. If that does end up being the case, at least they tried to do something different and didn’t tie themselves to either Wilson or Fields beyond this year.
