Report: 4 Anonymous Steelers Coaches Visibly Angered At NFL Combine By Kenny Pickett Hate

The Pittsburgh Steelers are allegedly in the middle of a quarterback controversy. It is a questionable situation to everyone outside the organization, individuals that quite insistent about the Steelers replacing Kenny Pickett as the starting quarterback before the kickoff of the 2024 regular season. Inside the organization, Omar Khan, Mike Tomlin and Art Rooney II seem quite content with their 2022 first-round draft choice running Arthur Smith's offense. 

On Wednesday, Aditi Kinkhabwala from CBS Sports joined the PM Team w/Poni and Mueller to discuss the state of the Steelers' free agency and, of course, the quarterback position. Kinkhabwala told Andrew Fillipponi and Chris Mueller that some members of the organization may be getting a little tired of the treatment of Pickett by the media. They are downright annoyed. 

"There was a lot of chatter at the combine that was essentially doubting Kenny Pickett," Kinkhabwala explained. "I will tell you that multiple new members of this staff felt so charged and angered by that. There is most definitely a personal investment in seeing him succeed." 

Kinkhabwala did not identify the coaches by name. She did tell Fillipponi and Mueller that four new members of the coaching staff talked to her about their passion for proving NFL observers wrong about Pickett. This seems to confirm that the new offensive coaching staff has been tasked since day one with finding a way to make it work with Pickett. 

The CBS Sports reporter assesses that it is personal with these coaches. NFL assistant coaches get paid to improve the players they work with, so it is curious to see words like this. 

Defending the players you coach is essential, but the fundamental doubts about Pickett after spending two years in Matt Canada's offense are valid. Kinkabwala expanded on her original comments.

"A piece of this staff is taking it very personally that people want to trade Kenny Pickett off for someone else's trash. There are people in this city that feel like that team gave up on him but he must be better than Kenny Pickett.  I'll tell you I spoke to four separate staff members who said it only makes them feel that much more strongly that they want to see Kenny succeed."

The report by Kinkhabwala is a double-edged sword. If the Steelers' offensive staff is dedicated to proving Pickett has gotten a bad wrap during his first two seasons and pulls an improved level of play from him in 2024, Steelers fans will rejoice. It is hard to envision being happier about being wrong and watching him blossom into a solid NFL quarterback. 

The other side of the blade is that the coaching staff will ignore what is already on tape. The offensive staff could pull the trigger slowly if Pickett does not exhibit improvement. If, as many believe, including Kinkhabwala, Mason Rudolph will be the only alternative to Pickett, it could amount to another wasted season fighting for an AFC Wildcard position. 

Steelers Are Being Linked To Virtually Every Available Quarterback

Since the season ended, the Steelers have been linked to Russell Wilson, Kirk Cousins, and Justin Fields. They have also been identified as potential draft suitors for Bo Nix and Michael Penix Jr. There has been a groundswell this week from NFL insiders like Diana Russini and Rich Eisen reporting this is not true. The Steelers and Tomlin are committed to Pickett. Only time will tell if it is the right decision. 

What do you think, Steeler Nation? Do you believe that the 2024 plan is Pickett? Please sound off below or on my Twitter/X: @thebubbasq. 

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