Colbert defends selecting Pickett

Colbert had a hall of fame caliber career with us but he had also a poor finish in the last 5 years,from 2018 to 2022.

 

Colbert lost credibility at “He is a competitor..”

Might as well have said he has big hands

You can’t avoid the facts

 

This is a delusional take by Colbert.

Or at least it would be if he believed what he was saying.

I can't believe that he does.

If we're being charitable, I suppose we could chalk this up to him not wanting to talk **** about a guy that he probably personally likes (even though he was a disappointment as a QB).

 

I doubt Cobert buys into what he is saying either, but I'm not as charitable in my reasoning. He is defending his own legacy, which includes many great years, but some lousy ones at the end.

At least the writer of the article is smarter than the folks here who don't understand the disaster of a situation they put Pickett in during his time as a Steeler. They pretty much tanked any shot he had at being a quality starter in the NFL. Calling NFL players competitors is empty nonsense. With rare exceptions like Anthony Richardson, they are all competitors. Pickett being a competitor got him traded out of Pittsburgh. They wanted to go after Fields, and Pickett gave them an excuse by reacting angrily when they handed the job to Russell Wilson rather than allowing Pickett to compete for it. I think Tomlin had this delusion that they could fix Fields, which worked out as poorly as expected. I also think maybe Tomlin figured out that Pickett can't stay healthy sooner than others realized it.

Of course, there was always a part of the Steelers fanbase that was going to hate the guy for having played at Pitt. You would think they would want what was best for the Steelers no matter what, but I guess not.

 

I was always under the impression that Tomlin made more about Pickett than Colbert did. That said, given how adamant Colbert was about wanting to leave Pittsburgh in a good spot considering that 2022 was his last season, Colbert had more influence there. Regardless, Pickett didn't pan out; simple as that.


That said, Pickett had a horrific supporting cast marred by the most Offensively Offensive Coordinator in Matt Canada. That hire was 100% on Tomlin. Canada getting fired was and still is seismic given how comically seldom Pittsburgh fires their Coaches.


Last Coach of any kind to get fired was during World War II; over four generations ago.

 

The writer is wrong when he says KP did nothing to elevate the team in 23. He beat the bengals and wasnt given a chance after that.

i agree it was a no win situation in Pittsburgh for any Qb with Canada at the controls. And I agree with Colbert, KP can do well if put in the right situation, but in the meantime his confidence has likely taken a hit and his injuries are raking up and can take a toll on him. Success may not happen.

 

I think Tomlin was desperate to save his legacy and get to the playoffs at any cost and gambled on MR. He was thinking short term gain and didnt give much importance to KP’s long term career in Pittsburgh. And he didnt seem to have any reliable staff who could give him advice on KP’s development abilities…there was who? Canada? Lol

and glad we’ve turned a new leaf on both canada and tomlin

 

The entire offense was designed around "QB, don't lose the game". This wasn't a bad thing for a rookie. Put Pickett on a team that had a high first round pick and he wouldn't have won half the games that he did. Canada was terrible but Pickett had his flaws.

 

He didnt move on from pickett. Pickett asked to be traded

 

I think the Marino pick a long time ago had a lot to do with him taking Pickett. Marino was sitting there and they put credence into the rumors about him. That Marino pick cost the Steelers a LOT of missed opportunities to win some superbowls. No way they were passing on another QB from Pitt.

 

Always wondered why he wanted a trade after the Steelers signed Wilson. Must have been pretty fragile

 

Not exactly a competitor

5 teams in 4 years and yet the Steelers were the problem and one or two people on earth believe this

 

Unfortunately for Kenny, I think it's possible (probable I think) that the ultra-conservative Steelers offense was the best fit for him. This system was able to get guys like Duck, Mitch, Kenny, and Mason to at least say they could win games in the NFL. Because it did a good job overcoming poor QB play by eliminating opportunities for big errors and letting the D carry the QB to victory.

If it was only the result of a bad situation he had here, then he probably wouldn't have been past by the QB3 on the Eagles, Browns, and Raiders (as well as the Steelers).

This is something I got wrong. When he left the Steelers, I was pretty sure that he'd end up being an average to above average backup QB.

He seems like a good kid. But he's not a good football player (by NFL standards). The Panthers are probably his last chance to make it in the league as a career backup.

 

Well, sorta. Per another poster, Colbert/Tomlin could well have been within their rights to tell Pickett to sit down and shut up. You are under contract. They probably realized Pickett wasn't worth that fight and jumped on the opportunity that Pickett gave them. I mean, a third round pick (plus a couple of late rounders) for a QB that will end up out of the league in a few seasons? Take it! Those picks got the Steelers Payton Wilson, Carson Bruener, and Donte Kent.

Still have to partially blame the scouting (or did Rooney pull rank and tell them to draft 'the local boy'?? Guess we'll have to wait for Rooney's bio to know.).

 

Not to mention Khan had been GM for roughly 2 years when Pickett got traded.

 

Pickett asked to get traded after he got benched for the QB3.

Then in the offseason we signed a guy who was obviously going to be the starter.

And it's probably not bringing in Wilson to start that was the worst part for Kenny. It's that key defensive leaders were out there lobbying Wilson to come. Because after carrying poor QBs (including Kenny) for multiple seasons, they wanted someone who they thought could be good...or at least throw TDs are a rate of more than one per month. The locker room didn't want him.

While that sounds brutal (because it is), it's not hyperbole. Kenny literally had 2 passing TDs in his last 8 (and 1/3) games with us. That's 2 TD passes in 220 attempts (0.91% TD%) from Oct 1, 2023 to Dec 3 2023. He had 0 TDs in his final four starts (~3.3 games)...that's his final 94 passes. It's likely more because I don't think his TD against TEN came on his last pass of the game (I didn't check).

Wilson was kind of "meh" when he was here. But he exceeded the extremely low bar of being the best QB we'd had since Ben retired (since passed by Rodgers...who I think has been a little bit above average).

 

Letting Colbert have that last draft never made sense to me.

He should have refused to do it IMO. Seems almost certain that the rumors of him wanting to leave the team with the parting gift of the next franchise QB are true IMO.

 

He's been outplayed (or at least played to a draw) by the QB3 on every team he's played for in the NFL.

 

Said this in another post, but I think it was more because of how hard the defensive leaders on the team lobbied for Wilson.

If they were doing that publicly, I'd imagine it was well known in the locker room that the defense had no faith in Kenny.

It's got to be hard to stay in a place like that after having been brought in as a potential franchise guy.

 

Colbert walked away from the whole organization after the draft.
He retired no?

Years later Kenny RAN away from competition.

Steelers should contemplate drafting anyone with Pick ens, ett, ler, eroll etc.....

 

Pitt fan and Pickett fan here. He got a raw deal. Matt Canada was the worst OC to ever be in the NFL.

Now did Kenny rise to the occasion in year 2? Nope. I was furious when he got injured vs the Cardinals because that schedule was set up for a nice run and he blew it with that injury.

That being said.. Claypool was a headcase, DJ was a head case and Pickens was talented as hell but also a head case.

Trubisky named the starter because of all that experience when he held a clipboard in Buffalo the prior year. He was pure azz.
Matt Canada’s offense. AZZ. Inserting Kenny after no reps with the first team in practice and his first official start in Buffalo. Waiting until the 4th quarter to turn Kenny loose where he actually played well most times in the hurry up offense. Why not use that more often instead of run, run, pass and save us on 3rd down?

As far as demanding a trade once they brought in Wilson. In what world does a QB get benched second season and stick around when they bring in a SB winning QB? We all know Tomlin doesn’t hold real competition at the QB position in camp. That was definitely Wilson’s gig and hoping for an injury to Wilson (which actually happened because he was pushing a sled for some odd reason) isn’t good business.

IMO if you draft a QB in the first, you build around him and have patience. Tomlin was desperate for a playoff win so his leash was short. Listening to Heyward and company sell him on Wilson didn’t work out any better. Even when Wilson showed promise in that first Bengals game and had 300 yards in the first half, Tomlin got scared and put him on a leash that second Bengals game. This is wht I compared Tomlin to James Franklin, besides his time with Ben, Tomlin had no trust for his QB’s until old ass Rodgers arrived.

In closing, Pickett wasn’t the answer and maybe moving on early worked out best for both parties but I always insisted that moving on wouldn’t put us any closer to a playoff win because the QB wasn’t the real issue. It was the offensive philosophy and lack of creativity. Who did we hire after Canada? A guy who likes 4 TE’s and put a TE at RB.

 

I believe Colbert moved up into the Front office for a year after he left his position.

Baker Mayfield requested a trade when the Browns lost faith in him and were clearly interested in Watson.

Its not running, its moving on from an org when they have moved on from you.

 

Nice to see that you've come to terms with the fact that he got benched in year 2.

FWIW, I'm glad that we stopped "throwing good money after bad" with Kenny after year 2. It was very much "going against type" for the Steelers (just like when they fired Canada).

We're usually patient to a fault.

Although we probably would have had better draft picks if we just kept starting him for another 2 years as the D declined.