When you draft a quarterback in the first round, the hope is that the guy you take can become your franchise quarterback for the next decade-plus, leading your team to the playoffs and giving you a shot to win a Super Bowl. That’s the bet Pittsburgh made when it decided to take QB Kenny Pickett 20th overall in the 2022 NFL Draft, selecting him to take the place of Ben Roethlisberger, who had just retired, as Pittsburgh’s potential heir to the throne.
We’re nearly two seasons in, and the results from Pickett are a mixed bag. He’s posted a 14-10 record as a starter, having gone 7-5 in both seasons to this point while showing the intangibles you look for in a franchise quarterback. He has led multiple game-winning drives and fourth-quarter comebacks in his first two seasons, showing off that “clutch gene” by manufacturing some late-game heroics to help Pittsburgh snatch victory while staring down defeat.
However, the process of getting those victories hasn’t been exactly encouraging as Pickett has underwhelmed in multiple statistical categories with the offense underwhelming as a unit the last several seasons. He hasn’t topped 2,404 passing yards in either season and has 13 passing touchdowns through two seasons with the lowest touchdown percentage of any starting quarterback with at least 500 attempts since 1973. Former Ravens head coach and offensive guru Brian Billick appeared on The Cook & Joe Show Wednesday and spoke about Pickett and his career to date. The hosts asked Billick if he thinks can be the guy in Pittsburgh or if the Steelers should considering other options.
“Well, that’s the question, isn’t it?” Billick said on The Cook & Joe Show. “Because I thought at the latter part of last year as he came on that he showed the signs, ‘Okay, this is gonna be a guy.’ Bill Walsh was a firm believer that by the 24th, 25th start, you know, whether a guy is a guy or not. And it doesn’t mean it can’t happen before, but very rarely, if it’s not happened by then it, it, it’s likely not gonna happen.
“And we’re right at that cusp. I think with Kenny Pickett, I don’t know. I like what I saw at the end of last year. One of the hardest things to do is to separate the play of a quarterback from what’s going on around him. So to evaluate him, you have to take into account what’s going on around him in terms of the offensive line, the ability to run the ball, the receiving corps. So that’s all of a factor too. So, I don’t know that I’d give up on Kenny Pickett, but there are some serious questions that still remain and they need the answer.”
Pickett has started 24 NFL games, having played in 25. His missed time in multiple games the last two seasons with various injuries. Most recently he was knocked out of last week’s game against the Arizona Cardinals due to a high ankle sprain that he had surgery for on Monday, putting him out for potentially the next four weeks. By following Walsh’s rule, it’s still up in the air whether or not Pickett is actually the guy for Pittsburgh moving forward.
Pickett’s defense can be that he had OC Matt Canada’s offensive system affecting him and his development for the first year-and-a-half of his career, having Pittsburgh move off Canada after its brutal loss on the road to the Cleveland Browns. The offense never looked good with Canada, giving Pickett a nod of confidence when the offense did put up 421 yards in the Steelers’ first game without him, a feat Canada never accomplished as Pittsburgh’s offensive coordinator. Still, part of the blame still falls on Pickett’s shoulders for his execution issues, missing open receivers while also scrambling into pressure rather than climbing the pocket to attack down the field. Billick also points to the personnel around Pickett as a key variable regarding his development and maximizing what he can do in the passing game.
“There’s a lot of things that have to be done to see if you can maximize what Kenny Pickett’s doing. Besides changing an offense, changing the coordinator, you gotta change the personnel around him,” Billick said.
For the most part, when you look at Pittsburgh’s personnel on offense, you think that they have a fairly strong supporting cast around Pickett. The offensive line has struggled at times throughout the season and could use some upgrades at left tackle and center, but rookie OT Broderick Jones as well as G Isaac Seumalo and G James Daniels are solid players who do a good job up front. The duo of Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren in the backfield gives Pittsburgh a strong 1-2 punch on the ground while the passing game has WRs Diontae Johnson, George Pickens and Allen Robinson II as well as TE Pat Freiermuth, who create a legit passing attack with various skill sets to attack opposing defenses.
As the 2023 season comes to a close, the jury is still out on Pickett and whether he can become the franchise quarterback Pittsburgh needs him to be to become a legit Super bowl contender. Some of the factors regarding his development have been out of his control, but the lack of production through two seasons is concerning no matter how you look at it. The Steelers are hopeful that QB Mitch Trubisky can keep the ship afloat with Pickett on the mend the next few weeks. If he can, that would set Pittsburgh up to make it into the playoffs for Pickett to close out the regular season and get his first playoff start and see what he’s made of when it matters most.
