One thing your mentioned middle of the pack QBs have in common: they’ve never won a Super Bowl. I’m not content with reaching the playoffs, I want to see this team lift number seven.

If we can field a top 5 D with a fine rushing attack, Pickett can go to the playoffs too !

Yes, he can but he needs to play better with more accurate passes to get a win in the playoff. Also the defense can’t give a lot of yards and let their opponents moving and controlling the ball as they were before.

Correction. For every Big Ben, there is a Trey Lance, Rick Mirer, and Ryan Leaf.

Johnny Manziel’s draft position is more similar to Kenny Pickett’s. Manziel was #22 overall and Pickett was #20.

At that point and later? You are kind of taking a flier. Sometimes it works out(Hurts, Jackson) but oft times it doesn’t.

Pickett is a “yet to be determined” in my book. I am rooting for the kid, I support him as our starting quarterback, but I am not prepared to commit either way as to his future.

By the way? Bortles was #5 overall…so he was more comparable to the Big Ben crowd. I know that Ben was #11, but 2004 was a weirdly strong year for quarterbacks and in a different draft, he could’ve been possibly a #1 overall.

Anyway…sorry…I got off topic. Yes… drafting a QB is ALWAYS a roll of the dice. Even though NCAA programs have gotten better at preparing quarterbacks for the NFL, Professional Football is a totally different animal.

It’s difficult to predict how a rookie is going to handle not only the speed of the game, level of player athleticism and knowledge, and the insane level of coaching and game planning all designed to make you look like a fool until you get enough experience to recognize those things…

It is also a matter of the mental strain of expectations, fickle fans, a massive playbook…and media attention that most have never seen before.

Of course, every first round rookie goes through this to a certain extent, but every other position is part of a group…the OL, the pass catchers(TE/WR), etc.

Quarterbacks are on an Island in that regard. They are the field general of the Offense and the guy that touches the ball on every single offensive play.

That’s a LOT of shit to deal with as a young man and damn near impossible for a team to predict who will thrive, who will fail and who will become an Andy Dalton type…a valuable asset to the team…but not elite.

In 11 years between Rodgers and Mahomes, arguably 0 HoF caliber QBs came out. If your plan to win a SB starts with ‘draft a HoF caliber QB’, hopefully you have a good plan to get your brain freeze dried to be reanimated when we hit the lottery ticket sometime in the next couple hundred years.

Regardless of whether Pickett improves this year or not the Steelers should absolutely not draft another QB in the first round for the next two season UNLESS they bottom out next season and end up with a top 5 pick. Even then they would have to really really feel strongly about the QB they are drafting.

QB is too hard to evaluate and dumping first round picks into one too often is how you end up like Cleveland and Arizona. For every Big Ben there are five Mitch Trubisky. Mid first round QB are especially wild cards. It is a roll of the dice.

Use your first round picks on easier to evaluate positions and build a good team around the QB, then take your shot. If they draft Kenny’s replacement next year the dude will just be stepping into the same bull shit. Take a flyer on a QB in 4th or 5th round if Kenny continues to suck but use those first three rounds to improve the team up front.

Kenny is probably a bridge QB, it sucks they used a first round pick on him, but the bridge will be under construction for a few more seasons. Drafting another QB in the first round anytime soon will extend that construction.

So cheer for Kenny to get better.

I think Andy Dalton is a good comp to hopefully where Kenny gets to in a year or two. Andy Dalton was middle tier and like you said, that’s enough to win championships with, provided you’ve got a top tier D and running game. I’d take that. Key too will be not breaking the bank at QB contract time so we can afford the other two.

I agree I wasn’t expecting nothing more from other then middle of the pack my expection of him was becoming Kirk cousins or dak presscot or even Jared Goff but he isn’t even doing that he has shown flashes but the last couple of games he’s been bad like he has lost all confidence but we still have shot browns lost their qb for the season and bengals are a roller coaster this game vs the browns is a must win and there defense is not gonna let’s us run they we have the last two weeks so we need him to be on point next game get the ball to the playmakers looks like we get mouth back the healthiest we’ve been all year offensively it’s make or break game for us and we need him to play well and it’s time for Canada and tomlin to let him throw the middle of the field and stop telling him to be a game manager we need him this game deshoun or no deshoun

I would be fine with dalton. KP can’t see the dalton line from where he is at.

I’d rather have a Manziel than a Dalton honestly. If you’re drafting a QB in the first round it should be because you at least see a path to them becoming an elite QB. I’d rather the QB bust right away and us immediately know we need to draft another one, than waste our time with a “serviceable” QB for 5+ years before realizing it isn’t cutting it. Right now we’re in year 2 of the latter.

Big Ben had the dog in him along with the physical and mental attributes to be a good QB.