Ron Cook: Steelers left with giant QB question after another Kenny Pickett injury
PITTSBURGH — The most troubling part of Kenny Pickett’s ankle injury isn’t the impact it will have on the Steelers’ playoff push. Mitch Trubisky might not be better as his replacement running the offense, but he can hardly be worse. Mason Rudolph might even be better.
No, the worst part of Pickett’s injury is the uncertainty it creates about his future. Is or is he not the Steelers’ franchise quarterback? Unless he makes a speedy recovery from his surgery on Monday morning, the team isn’t likely to find out this season.
That is unfortunate.
Let me phrase that another way:
The primary goal for this season wasn’t for the Steelers to contend for a Super Bowl or even make the playoffs. It was to find out what they had in Pickett.
At this point, it’s impossible to say he is the Steelers’ long-term answer.
Pickett hasn’t been very good this season. He hasn’t made the expected jump from his rookie season in 2022. It’s fair to argue he has been worse.
The good news about Pickett? He didn’t throw an interception in the past eight games.
The bad news? Pickett didn’t throw a touchdown pass in the past four. He has just one touchdown pass in the past seven games. Almost all of his other metrics are awful.
Pickett has been so bad at times that the Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac reported on Monday that the team considered making a change at quarterback after the 13-10 debacle at Cleveland on Nov. 19. Instead, it fired Matt Canada as offensive coordinator two days later.
Pickett supporters blame Canada and his play calling for Pickett’s struggles. Of course, they do. That argument seemed to have some merit when Pickett played his best game of the season in the 16-10 win at Cincinnati on Nov. 26 with Eddie Faulkner taking over from Canada as coordinator and Mike Sullivan calling the plays. Pickett completed 24 of 33 passes for 278 yards and finished with a 97.8 passer rating.
But Pickett and the offense reverted back to the way it was under Canada in the 24-10 home loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. Pickett completed 7 of 10 passes for 70 yards before his ankle injury late in the second quarter but couldn’t get the Steelers into the end zone. The team was 1 for 6 on third downs when he was in the game.
Tomlin acknowledged during his Monday press briefing that there have been “some opportunities missed in the passing game” this season but added those are “just a part of our overall growth.”
Pickett’s injury history is also becoming a concern. Sunday’s game was the fifth time in his brief career that he was replaced in a game or missed a start. Initial reports said Pickett would be out 2–4 weeks because of his latest injury. Tomlin said Monday that the injury isn’t season-ending. He also said he isn’t worried about Pickett’s injury track record.
