Keeping Pickett on the bench for the rest of the season…

…is the best thing that could be done for Kenny long-term. It will hopefully make him even hungrier in the off-season and compel him to come back ready to work next year. I remember how Kenny was treated like a celebrity this past off-season, making guest appearances on podcasts, being talked up by the local media and even the national media to a degree. It was as if he’d already accomplished something in his career and quite honestly he’d done nothing. The comebacks against the Raiders and Ravens were all anybody seemed to want to talk about, but what was forgotten was how badly Pickett had played in 3.5 quarters of both of those games and how he struggled for a big part of the season. To see how he was treated in the off-season you’d have thought he’d just brought number 7 home.

I still have hopes that Pickett can develop into that next franchise quarterback, but I’m not nearly as confident as I was at the beginning of the season. I guess I bought into the hype. Keep him inactive, let him heal and learn and then let him come back ready to fight for his place in Steelers QB lore next season. Maybe with Mason Rudolph as his primary competitor.

 

Part of what you said might be right, but there is a part of me that thinks you aren't.

If we are going to bring Kenny back as the "starter" next season, he certainly needs to feel the heat. His play has really been atrocious for the overwhelming majority of his career and he should feel the need to have to "prove himself" as the starter still. However, Kenny might need to play and turn in a couple of really good games to end the season for the organization to not want to move off Pickett entirely. I don't think we will, but there is a real possibility that we concluded that Kenny doesn't have it and we start looking for the next "QB of the future" in the draft or a "placeholder" that is better than Kenny until we find that guy....

 

Bench everyone.

 

Pickens has over a 1000 yards on 56 catches with 5 TDs. He has had an awsome year.

 

I'm actually not convinced at all that Kenny will develop into a franchise QB. I fully agree with just about everything else you touched upon, though.

 

Most teams do not have a franchise QB. Championships can be won without them.

 

I don't disagree, at all. Ben is a HoF Qb, for sure, but he still has the lowest passer rating for a winning QB in any Super Bowl since the merger. Sometimes games are won by tough defense and simple game management from the offense. However, I think of all og the QBs that we currently have on the roster, though, Mason is best suited for flourishing in that role.

 

Given the offensive scheme he’s been playing in and the overall quarterback play, you are correct.

 

Yep, the Steelers won that Super Bowl against the Seahawks almost in spite of Ben and not because of Ben. He sure as heck played lights out in the playoffs to get them there though.

 

I'll be officially back on the Rudolph bandwagon if Steelers beat the Seahawks with good production on offense, run and pass. I jumped off the Rudolph bandwagon in '21 vs. Lions. Tie game that should have been won.

 

Roll with the hot hand. Rudolph played better vs. Bengals than Pickett played vs. Bengals. And I'm a Pickett fan. I hope he is good enough in '24 to beat out Rudolph.

 

Steelers need points right now... and Rudolph scores more points and is better in the red zone than Pickett. I'm not giving up on Pickett, but he's gotta play better in the red zone, IMHO.

 

Wasn’t Rudolph leading a comeback in those games when JJSS and Muth both fumbled at the most inopportune times? A lot of folks on here want to blast Rudolph for that Lions game, but he led the team straight down the field for a TD on the first drive making it look easy and then had them in position to win it late but for the aforementioned fumbles. IIRC the weather also was a factor that game. Not saying Rudolph played great but had the Steelers won that game the narrative about Rudolph would be so much different. He was doing what Pickett has done, leading the team to a 4th quarter victory, and his receivers all of a sudden couldn’t hold onto the ball.

 

This is a little different, Blast. Rudolph’s play was so much better than either Pickett’s or Trubisky’s has been over the last two seasons that he clearly deserves another shot. Surprised you don’t see that. I’m still hopeful for Pickett, but he’s done nothing to earn the benefit of the doubt from anybody. Apparently, Mike Tomlin sees it the same way. He’s keeping the hot hand at QB while allowing Pickett to save face.

 

Well an awesome year minus the fact he’s a bone head and a slacker

 

Pickett says he is ready but Mason is still starter

 

Hell we can't get to the playoffs without one, so let's start with that first, lol.

 

I mentioned that several times, not specifically the QB numbers, but the overall results against Cincy 2x. With the total crap show this O has been this year I have no true measure of KP, I do not think he is THAT good as an NFL QB, but he may not be THAT bad either, good enough to manage if given the proper scheme and tools around him. With the holes we have, try and fix those and get on OC that can bring his fire, the 3rd year, as painful as it may be will get the real picture of KP.

 

Pickett claims to be ready to go and also said he learned nothing new sitting on the sidelines. Sounds to me like he’s pissed that MT isn’t going back to him.

Even if he didn’t learn anything new that’s a poor take by a guy who has struggled pretty much his entire career.

 

Not acting like he had a Big Ben game, but I guess it did kinda feel like a Big Ben game after the way Mitch and Kenny had been playing for most of the season. They’ve both looked like the ghosts of 80s quarterbacks past. But you are correct, Kenny looked better in the first Cincy game and then up until he got hurt in the Cards game so that’s encouraging. His durability…not so much.