Overreactions from Steelers Nation: Should’ve drafted (insert name) instead of Kenny Pickett
Welcome to my weekly edition of “Overreactions from Steelers Nation” a weekly column where I poke fun at fans, reporters, and so-called experts while trying to figure out if some of these hot takes are real – or just for attention.
Welcome back! After a week or so off from observing overreactions, we’re back at it with Steelers Nation complaining about the quarterback position.
Depending on where you hang out on the Internet, you may have seen several of the jabs taken towards second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett.
Let’s rewind what happened recently. The Steelers lost 20-10 to the Jacksonville Jaguars in a game where Pickett didn’t play in the second half. Pittsburgh’s offense was miserable at the same time that Tennessee Titans rookie QB Will Levis unexpectedly became their starter and threw four touchdown passes in his first pro game ever.
That’s more touchdowns than Pickett ever threw in a game, so naturally, the Steelers were going to get whooped when facing Levis and the Titans on Thursday Night Football. Of course, that never happened, as Pittsburgh’s offense finally came alive with four redzone drives, with drives that were at least ten plays and at least 50 yards; three of those were 70 or more too.
In this game, the second coming that is Levis failed to throw for a touchdown, completing 56.4% of passes, and iced the game for Pittsburgh by throwing an interception.
Pickett, who finished the come-from-behind victory with his seventh game-winning drive in 20 career starts, completed 63.3% of his passes, including the clinching touchdown to WR Diontae Johnson.
Despite completing over 63% of his throws, Pickett was widely criticized for “missing” receivers throughout the contest, despite playing on a short week with injured ribs that caused him to miss the entire second half of the Jaguars game.
If that doesn’t sound ass backward, it gets better. You see, the only reason the Steelers “reached” for Pickett in last year’s draft is because they were desperate and fans only defend the young quarterback because he went to the University of Pittsburgh: despite many Steelers fans living in neighboring areas that support Ohio State, Penn State, and West Virginia in the land of college football.
But hey, they’re Pickett defenders… clearly, he’s terrible. Look at all the Steelers gave up to acquire Pickett: their original 20th overall draft pick in 2022.
In other words, they gave up zilch, unlike the Houston Texans featuring this weekend’s darling, C.J. Stroud. Stroud, this year’s number one overall draft pick, broke the NFL rookie touchdown passing record in a single game with five TD throws.
The hot take? The Steelers should’ve tanked to get Stroud. That is, they should’ve lost every game in 2022 to have a shot at the top overall pick: which is guaranteed to be a superstar player… just as the Jets selected Zach Wilson and the 49ers took Trey Lance picks two and three overall in 2021.
How’d that work out? Yeah, let’s hold the kneejerk reactions on Pickett so far, let alone those reserved for some great one-game wonder performances by Stroud and Levis. Let’s not forget, Mitchell Trubisky was the second overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft and has a six touchdown game on his resume too.
The quarterback lottery as is in the NFL is unpredictable. Stroud could be a franchise quarterback, but we won’t know that for years to come. And just imagine if he is, and Carolina Panthers rookie Bryce Young isn’t. The Panthers traded two first round picks, two second round picks and WR D.J. Moore to move up from pick nine to pick one. (Plus they hired a quarterback “friendly” coach in Frank Reich to develop Young.)
Then there’s the “Steelers could’ve gotten Jalen Hurts” crowd. The Eagles had Hurts fall into their lap at pick 53 of the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft. And then every single critic blasted him over his first two seasons, opening his career with a 9-10 record and 22 touchdowns to 13 interceptions. The consensus was, Hurts wouldn’t be an NFL-level starter.
Of course, we know the story now, as Hurts led the Eagles to the Super Bowl last year and was in the MVP conversation.
But the Steelers should’ve taken Hurts, and had him sit for two seasons behind Ben Roethlisberger. That would’ve been a surefire success even with the “Fire Matt Canada” crowd I bet! (And let’s not forget, the Green Bay Packers did that with Jordan Love to mixed results thus far too.)
In the end, we really don’t know what any of these quarterbacks’ stories will be. Levis’ record in his first-ever game tied a Hall of Famer, Fran Tarkenton, and an afterthought of a former top draft pick, Marcus Mariota.
It’s difficult to predict what the future holds, and a lot it has to do with the situation and the player.
Up until last month, 49ers QB Brock Purdy – who was the last pick of the same 2022 NFL Draft Pickett was in – looked invincible. Now he looks more like a seventh-round pick…
Still, Purdy’s story is currently being written just as Pickett’s is. The Steelers quarterback now has 20 starts – just a little over a full season’s worth of games, though he hasn’t finished several of those.
After the 2024 season, we may have a better idea of who Pickett is. Not sooner, and probably not later. (Because he’s only going to have so much time to prove himself.) By then, perhaps Pickett has a four-touchdown game or become a star quarterback. Or maybe he doesn’t, and the Steelers lost absolutely nothing in the process: no large sums of guaranteed money and no multiple high-round draft picks.
At the very least fans can be patient and appreciate that Pickett has trended toward being able to lead his team to fourth-quarter victories, rather than hope he has one great game in his entire career.
