Former Steelers OG Worried About A Successful Season: “I'm Honestly Directly Pointing The Finger At Kenny Pickett”

The Pittsburgh Steelers just wrapped up Week 2 of the 2023 season with a 26-22 win over the Cleveland Browns at Acrisure Stadium. While they might have brought home a win, the game has continued to brew controversy on social media about the performance of second-year quarterback, Kenny Pickett. Now, one former Steelers player is speaking up about just how much of the offensive struggles are the fault of Pickett. 

Pickett was drafted during the first round in 2022 out of the University of Pittsburgh. Because of his ties to the Steel City, he was a fan favorite leading up to the draft. Immediately after he arrived at training camp his rookie year, fans began pleading for him to be the starter. But the organization had other ideas. Despite Pickett's familiarity with Pittsburgh, he was new to the NFL and they wanted to give him some time to grow and mature. 

Instead of starting Pickett immediately during his rookie season, Head Coach Mike Tomlin chose to start veteran journeyman Mitch Trubisky. Unfortunately for Trubisky, that did not last long. He was benched halfway through the Week 4 matchup in favor of Pickett. It wasn't smooth sailing for Pickett, as he threw more interceptions (nine) than touchdowns (seven). He finished the season with 2,404 yards in his 13 games. 

While those stats certainly don't reflect well on Pickett, there were some positives. Pickett, as well as the rest of the team, hit the reset button during the bye week and returned changed. They went from 2-6 before the bye, to 7-2 after the bye. While there was clearly still work to be done, Pickett looked markedly improved compared to his performances during the early part of the 2022 season. 

After seeing incredible offseason workouts, Pickett returned in 2023 and delivered a flawless preseason performance. While it was only a handful of snaps, he had a perfect passer rating. This, along with what appeared to be varsity play-calling had fans ecstatic. That is why it was such a crushing blow when they lost Week 1 to the San Francisco 49ers. Pickett looked "off" that game and his stats showed it. He completed 31 of 46 attempted passes for 232 yards, and a completion percentage of only 67.4%. He threw one touchdown and two interceptions. 

While there was a lot of frustration over the game against the 49ers, most people felt that against the toughest defense in the league, and given that it was the first week of the season, it was somewhat understandable. Regardless of how understandable it was, his quarterback rating was still a mere 28.1, which was a long way from the 158.3 he had in the preseason. Many analysts felt Pickett would bounce back in Week 2. 

Whether the fact that the Steelers won against the Browns is a reflection of Pickett bouncing back is a bit debatable. His stats for Week 2 certainly do not show a bounce back. Pickett had only a 50% completion rating. He scored one touchdown and threw one interception. The quarterback rating for Week 2 was even worse at only 12.3. While they may have won, Pickett still did not look crisp and the entire offense failed to pick up first downs or convert critical third downs. 

This immediately caused fans to once again cheer for Offensive Coordinator Matt Canada to be fired. One former Steelers player already said that regardless of the play-calling, a huge piece of responsibility lies with Pickett.   

Former Steelers OG Ramon Foster Pointing A Finger At Kenny Pickett

Few people understand how an offense operates and where responsibility for success or failure lies more than Ramon Foster. He was a guard for the Steelers for 11 seasons and has seen quarterbacks at their best and their worst. 

Now Foster co-hosts a podcast on DK Pittsburgh Sports with reporter Dejan Kovacevic called The Ramon Foster Show. On a recent episode, he was asked about the offensive struggles and if he thinks the team can bounce back. Foster said people shouldn't be panicking, it is very early in the season, but he thinks one person is primarily responsible. 

"Kenny gotta show up in a lot of different ways," said Foster.

All of the blame does not rest on Pickett's shoulders, there were others who were failing to execute appropriately. However, Foster said that coming out of Week 1, his stats were not showing what you would expect from a quarterback who is entering his second season in the NFL. 

"You got to give us a glimmer of light. The second-year guy, the excuse of him having to grow up, now you're a pro."

All of this talk of how Pickett had "happy feet" and was second-guessing himself out on the field has to stop. Foster said there can be no more excuses, there are too many other people who are counting on Pickett to execute the plays like a professional. If things are going badly, the responsibility is on Pickett to help turn it around. 

"I give a guy grace when it comes to it. He had an entire offseason. Whether it's him and Matt Canada or whether it's just him, a lot of the stuff that was happening, I'm honestly directly pointing the finger at Kenny. Go help yourself out, man. Figure this stuff out. This is the NFL, it is hard."

He added that he tells people all the time when you are looking at a player who is developing in the league, you have to look at what they are up against. Foster said in Pickett's case, that might be Canada and his play-calling or the floor of the offense as a whole. He said it doesn't matter if he got smacked in the mouth his first season. 

"So what! You got to overcome coaching. You got to overcome bad situations."

It is not that he sees Pickett as "mentally weak," but instead that players absolutely have to will themselves back from being down. When he was a Steelers guard, he said there were a lot of games when things were not going their way and the team had to band together to find a way to win. He added that part of it is that Pickett has to have that winning mindset, he has to believe in himself and his team. 

"There is a portion of believing when you roll that ball out there and you cross those white lines that I'm going to go win. I'm putting more on Kenny."

Regardless of how much of the blame lies with Canada for creating a JV game plan, there is definitely enough blame to go around. Pickett wasn't executing, the offensive line wasn't blocking, and at times, the running backs weren't picking up yardage. However, the buck will stop with Pickett as the de facto leader of the offense. 

What did you think about the Week 1 game compared to the Week 2 game? Click to comment below!

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