Kenny Pickett is here and there has been quite a stir in Steeler Nation since the April NFL Draft. As far as NFL teams go, you live and die by your quarterback play. I don't make the rules on this one. It's pretty much the case in football. Given the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger (the best QB in the history of the franchise), fans were both perplexed when the front office signed Mitch Trubisky in the off-season, only to follow that up with the surprising selection of the Pitt standout at #20 in the first round of the draft.
John McGonigal / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The second guessing and armchair army went on attack.
Slow down folks.
For anybody who can remember back in 2004, the Steelers found themselves in a similar situation. Tommy Maddox was coming off a 2003 season where he rode the wave of XFL MVP to a job with the Black n Gold, eventually taking the starting job from Kordell Stewart in 2002. One that would lead to a stunning, come from behind OT playoff win over the Cleveland Browns and a secure spot as the No. 1 QB on the team. In 2003, injuries and poor play saw the team slip to 6-10 and some of that luster came off "Tommy Gun," despite setting a then franchise record for single-season completions that year.
Then, Ben was drafted.
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At that time, I was still working for WPXI-TV/PCNC in 'tahn and can remember producing multiple Fedko Fone Zone shows where callers wanted to see the rookie QB get the job that Maddox had earned. We have become a society that covets the 'new shiny toy' over something we just bought the day before.
Maddox played well in his tenure with the Steelers. He had done nothing wrong to be benched in favor of the new first round pick. But as fate would have it, Maddox suffered an elbow injury in the second game of the season at Baltimore and the rest is history.
Will that happen again? Given the problems the Steelers had last year with the offensive line, and let's be honest, the little improvement to upgrade for this year, it's a real possibility it could.
All the more reason you sit Pickett for now.
When Trubisky was signed, I wasn't so disgusted that I felt it was a bad selection. When you look at his career numbers, he's got a winning percentage over .500 in five seasons. He's been a Pro Bowler, led the Chicago Bears to the playoffs twice even. Those are not bad stats when you look at the entire body of work.
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback, Mitch Trubisky (#10) throwing a pass during a preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday, August 13, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Photo by: Abigail/Pittsburgh Steelers
If you want to dive further into Steelers history, Terry Bradshaw had several occasions during his time as starter where his play was sub-par and fans were calling for Terry Hanratty, Joe Gilliam Jr. and even Cliff Stoudt to take over the offense as QB. And for a brief period of time, they did so before the original TB12 took back over.
Time will tell if that happens. One would think the Steelers would not have drafted Pickett where they did and not have plans to make him their QB of the future. I like shiny new objects to ogle over like the next person, but in this case, giving Pickett some time to watch and learn isn't a bad thing. Trubisky's tenure and experience, his prior success as a starter in this league has to mean something, thus his appointment as the team's starter on Sunday in Cincinnati against a bitter rival was the right choice by head coach, Mike Tomlin.
I like the idea that Mitch Trubisky will start the season. Do I see him playing for a decade under center for the Steelers? No. We know how this works in the NFL. Poor play, injuries, you name the reason, a QB change is just a play away. We will see the era of Kenny Pickett soon, Steeler Nation.
It just won't start on Sunday in Cincinnati.
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