The Pittsburgh Steelers are nonetheless looking for their long-term reply at quarterback, using a seemingly unending carousel of stopgaps and failed draft picks that has been spinning because the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger.
One of many first quarterbacks who was alleged to fill that void was 2022 first-round choose Kenny Pickett, who additionally occurred to be the final first-round choose that former basic supervisor Kevin Colbert made earlier than retiring that yr.
Although Pickett by no means efficiently developed right into a long-term reply in Pittsburgh, and was then traded after simply two years by the brand new GM (Omar Khan), Colbert is sticking by his determination and nonetheless defending the choose of Pickett.
Former Pittsburgh Steelers basic supervisor Kevin Colbert defends Kenny Pickett draft choose
Throughout an look on Pittsburgh’s 93.7 The Fan (h/t SI.com) this week, Colbert mentioned the Steelers chosen Pickett to be a profitable quarterback, and he pointed to his 14-10 document as a starter as proof that he was residing as much as expectations and trending in the fitting path.
He added:
“Kenny’s an amazing younger man. He is an amazing competitor… And I nonetheless assume at a younger age, I nonetheless assume Kenny can proceed to construct on what he did with us in these first two seasons.”
It is an excessively optimistic view, and one that you just may count on from the final supervisor who really made the choice. No person likes to confess once they obtained a giant determination like that incorrect.
It’s also true that the Steelers did, in actual fact, have a profitable document with Pickett as their starter. However Pickett was extra of a caretaker for the offense than any type of a difference-maker, constantly being requested to not make any main errors as an alternative of making an attempt to make huge performs. Many of the Steelers’ wins with Pickett had been ugly, low-scoring video games the place the protection dominated and the crew gained the turnover battle with a low-risk, low-scoring offense that by no means tried to do an excessive amount of.
It gained some regular-season video games.
It was by no means a recipe for Tremendous Bowl competition or sustained long-term success.
Colbert had a Corridor of Fame-worthy profession working the Steelers for greater than twenty years, constructing three groups that went to the Tremendous Bowl and two that gained it. However a few of his later draft courses produced extra misses than hits, and the Pickett one was on the high of that listing. It was an ideal storm of circumstances that noticed the Steelers needing a quarterback, a weak quarterback class and perhaps a bit of little bit of desperation all assembly at one level.
Since Pickett, the Steelers have additionally gone by veterans Russell Wilson and now Aaron Rodgers, whereas additionally taking developmental mid-round draft picks like Will Howard and Drew Allar.
It’s as much as new head coach Mike McCarthy to develop considered one of them. Or at the least attempt to develop considered one of them.
