Look, we all did it. We all watched the 2022 NFL draft with breathless anticipation to see who the Pittsburgh Steelers would choose to be the quarterback of the future. Most NFL pundits grossly overrated some of the quarterbacks in the class, and the narrative was there could be three potential players on the board for the Steelers to pick from.
But there was just one. The Steelers didn’t hesitate when they had the opportunity to select local hero Kenny Pickett to be the guy who follows the guy.
Coming into the 2022 season, Pittsburgh chose not to rush Pickett into the starting lineup, but that strategy lasted less than a month. Once Pickett was the starter, there were all of the growing pains you expect from a rookie quarterback who really didn’t spend much time in the preseason preparing to start.
The bye week came, and after that Pickett started to play much cleaner football, giving everyone hope for the 2023 season. This hope was only amplified by an impressive, albeit abbreviated, preseason.
This catches us up to now and what we need to talk about. Pickett isn’t getting better. In fact, he might have taken some steps back. Yes, his fourth-quarter comebacks are impressive. Those don’t excuse the three bad quarters he seems to play each week.
So what do we want to talk about? The future. Pickett’s future. This team is packed with talent. On offense they have two great running backs, two great wide receivers and an exceptional tight end. On defense they have a perennial All-Pro at every level. And none of them will be here forever.
If Pickett doesn’t show improvement in the team’s final nine games — and we mean significant improvement — can the team afford not to have some sort of contingency plan to be sure it can maximize the talent of this group?
