Just in; Steelers Captain Says Kenny Pickett Is Being Judged Too Quickly
After Kenny Pickett’s disappointing second season in the NFL, there have been several calls for the Pittsburgh Steelers to move on.
But one of his influential teammates in the locker room thinks it’s too early to judge Pickett. “The criticism of the quarterback is crazy,” defensive end and team captain Cameron Heyward said on Sirius XM’s “Ferrall Coast to Coast” program on Feb. 7. “There are people you’ve never played with who say you should be a quarterback. And without Pat Mahomes, they will be inconsistent as soon as they step on the court. “I think Kenny can be a great quarterback in this league,” Hayward said. “It seems [crazy] that people are using it now.”
The Case for Late Bloomers
Recent cases have shown that giving up on a defender too quickly can lead to missed opportunities. Geno Smith, a 2013 second-round pick, is the biggest example. After two years as a starter for a poor Jets team in 2013 and 2014, Smith was benched. He waited seven years before getting another opportunity as a starting pitcher. The Seattle Seahawks will now pay him $25 million a year if they make the playoffs in 2022. Baker Mayfield was the Browns’ first overall pick in 2018. In his third year in the league, he helped the team end a 17-year playoff drought. Two years later, they traded him to the Panthers after making a big deal for Deshaun Watson.
After a rough year in which he was cut by the Panthers and finished the year with a struggling Rams team, Mayfield got another opportunity with the Buccaneers. Since the breakup, he has had more playoff wins than the Browns.
Even Mason Rudolph had a surprisingly good 2023 for the Steelers after not being included on the preseason roster. “If the Steelers have learned anything from Rudolph this year, it’s not to discount a player based on the small sample size and unusual obstacles he faces,”
Kenny Pickett’s ‘Last Chance’ with the Steelers.
In an end-of-season press conference, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said Pickett will be Pittsburgh’s starting quarterback in 2024 and that there will be “competition” for the job. In 24 games over two years, Pickett has tied for one touchdown (13) while completing 62.6 percent of his passes. His 62% completion percentage in 2023 ranked 29th in the league. According to Joe Clark of Steelers Depot, “2024 could be Pickett’s last chance.”
Clark wrote that running backs coach Mike Sullivan will give Pickett “the continuity he desperately needs.”
But Clark wrote that if Pickett “can’t turn things around in three years, the Steelers will explore other options to find their quarterback of the future.”
Given the Steelers’ long winning streak (Tomlin hasn’t lost a game since taking over as coach in 2007), Pickett has felt pressure to perform from the moment he became the starter.
But Pickett’s ‘sophomore jump’ never happened,” Kaboli wrote. “Was it the right decision…or should I say the only decision that could have been made?”
Tomlin also acknowledged the third-year pressure on Pickett. “This is a big year for him,” Tomlin said. “We met this morning and admitted it. This is a really big year for him. But I know how it’s put together and made, so it’s exciting to see him do that part. And it’s exciting to see how they attack him.
