Steelers Now
NEW ORLEANS — This time a year ago, Kenny Pickett did not see himself where he stands today. Pickett, who was the first-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2022, was the Steelers’ starting quarterback 365 days ago. Now he’s headed to the Super Bowl as the starting quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Pickett left his home state of New Jersey for Pittsburgh in 2016, committing to the Pitt Panthers, where he played for five seasons, honing his skills next door to the Pittsburgh Steelers on the South Side and winning an ACC title.
When the Steelers needed a quarterback after Ben Roethlisberger retired at the end of the 2021 season, Pickett just so happened to be in the draft pool, and he was unexpectedly available to the Steelers at pick No. 22, after some other interested teams passed.
It was a storybook script, especially for the oft-heartless NFL. Pickett would stay in his adopted home of Pittsburgh. The Steelers, after passing on Dan Marino in 1983, would keep the next great Pitt quarterback in town.
None of it worked out according to plan. The Steelers saddled Pickett with a failure of an offensive coordinator in Matt Canada, and despite his status as a veteran college player with ton of starting experience, he never fit in as a leader in a veteran locker room.
Pickett has become a lightning rod for the Steelers’ fanbase, with many, especially those who cheer for the Panthers on Saturdays, insisting that the Steelers wasted Pickett’s talent. Him putting up very solid numbers as a backup for Jalen Hurts in Philadelphia this season has done little to lessen that stance.
Others are critical of the way Pickett handled his opportunity, with the end-of-season drama in Seattle being seen as a connecting thread to the Steelers’ defensive stars recruiting Russell Wilson to replace Pickett last March.
Still others believe that the blame lays with the Steelers taking Pickett in the first place. The five-year college starter was seen as a safe, but low-upside choice. The fact that it didn’t work out, shows how folly the word safe can be when describing a draft pick. Two years removed from the draft, Liberty’s Malik Willis appears to be the more-promising player to be an NFL starter. Iowa State’s Brock Purdy, taken in the seventh round by the San Francisco 49ers, has been the best passer in the class.
None of those stances are completely correct, but none of them are wrong, either. The Steelers did not do the best possible job of preparing for success. Pickett did not handle his opportunity as well as he could have. The situation does prove the risk of even what are considered to be the safest draft picks and shows why prioritizing upside is important when there’s no such thing as a sure thing.
Right now, Pickett is happy. He played well when he got the call for the Eagles this season, and his team is on the cusp of championship...
