PITTSBURGH — It has become abundantly clear that the Steelers want to play the long game with Kenny Pickett.
I would have thought differently on draft day, when they were elated to snag the soon-to-be-24-year-old Pickett with the 20th pick.
It's not like they had an established star in front of him. They didn't even have a starter in front of him. Not from 2021, anyway (although I happen to be a Mitch Trubisky defender).
Now, I didn't think Pickett would get the keys to the franchise on Day 1 of camp, like Joe Burrow in Cincinnati two years ago. But I thought he'd at least get a chance to compete for the starting job, like Mac Jones in New England last season.
Jones — who is younger than Pickett, by the way — beat out Cam Newton, then had a good rookie season and led the Patriots to the playoffs. He is undoubtedly better for the experience. So are the Patriots.
Pickett? He's listed third on the Steelers' depth chart, scrounging for reps behind Mason Rudolph and having zero chance to start the opener in Cincinnati.
And here I thought Malik Willis was the long-term project pick.
Wasn't Pickett the guy who started games in five different college seasons?
Things could change quickly. They did for Ben Roethlisberger in his rookie season. But at least he was a backup to begin the year. For now, it appears there is at least a chance — if the Steelers keep Rudolph — that Pickett will be packed away for his rookie year, not even in position to gain valuable backup reps in practice.
We'll see how that plays out, but we can probably count on this much: Pickett will see his first game action in a Steelers uniform Saturday night against the Seattle Seahawks.
That will afford us the opportunity to gauge his progress and even to look ahead to whenever Pickett becomes the guy. He will surely get that chance sooner or (likely) later.
And I'm curious: What kind of career do you think would justify the Steelers picking him 20th? Who would be a good comparable?
Surely, it's not Ben Roethlisberger. That would be asking too much. Roethlisberger was a unicorn. I don't expect Pickett to be a superstar. But it's not unreasonable to ask him to be really good.
It's not unreasonable to ask him to deliver a championship, either. That's why he was picked in the first round, right? So I'm going to suggest another Jersey kid who was drafted into the AFC North with a mid-first round pick.
I'm going to suggest Joe Flacco.
The record shows that Flacco, taken 18th overall out of Delaware, started as a rookie only because Troy Smith and Kyle Boller were unavailable. See how quickly things can change? But he capitalized on the opportunity, kept the job, started in the AFC championship game that season (you might remember Troy Polamalu catching one of his passes) and went on to a long and successful career in Baltimore. He's now with the New York Jets.
Put it this way: If I told you Pickett would play for 11 years here, win nearly 100 games, throw for nearly 40,000 yards and lead the Steelers to Super Bowl championship No. 7, would you sign up for that?
I'm betting you would. In blood.
Flacco was never a superstar. He never threw for more than 27 touchdown passes in a season. But he always felt like a threat. It always seemed like he could beat you.
He did his best work when it mattered most, going 10-5 in the playoffs with 25 touchdown passes against 10 interceptions. He also beat the Patriots twice in Foxboro in playoff games, which was unheard of (and it would have been three times if not for Lee Evans' dropped pass in the end zone).
Flacco's playoff march in 2012 was epic. He went 4-0 with 11 touchdowns and no interceptions, beating Andrew Luck, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady on his way to the Super Bowl, where the Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers, 34-31.
Though he never quite lived up to his mega contract after that, I'm sure Ravens fans on balance were thrilled with Flacco's career. And I'm guessing Steelers fans would be thrilled if Pickett replicated it.
First things first, though: He needs to pass Mason Rudolph on the depth chart.
