2023 Steelers Season Thread

[Iceman]

Why wouldn't he say Pickett is number 1? Neither Rudolph or Trubisky are likely to be back.

Rudolph beat 2 teams (Seahawks & Bengals) who didn't make the playoffs and the Ravens backups. Pickett beat the Bengals and Ravens starters under Canada.

Give Pickett a chance with a competent OC and QB coach and let's see what he can do. If he can't cut it and they post a poor record, maybe they'll draft low enough to get a top rated QB in the draft.

Meantime, build up your O and D lines this year.

[tommy156]

Originally Posted by Iceman

Why wouldn't he say Pickett is number 1? Neither Rudolph or Trubisky are likely to be back.

Rudolph beat 2 teams (Seahawks & Bengals) who didn't make the playoffs and the Ravens backups. Pickett beat the Bengals and Ravens starters under Canada.

Give Pickett a chance with a competent OC and QB coach and let's see what he can do. If he can't cut it and they post a poor record, maybe they'll draft low enough to get a top rated QB in the draft.

Meantime, build up your O and D lines this year.

First of all, Mason beat the Seahawks and Bengals when both of those teams were still in the playoff hunt and absolutely had to have those games.

In other words, Mason knocked both the Seahawks and Bengals out of the playoffs. Secondly, Mason also proved that Canada wasn't necessarily the problem, because he looked like a Pro Bowler in pretty much the same system that Kenny couldn't make work.

Kenny's had more than enough opportunity to prove himself. 25 starts. He threw 2 TDs over an 8-game span. That's only 2 more TDs than I threw and I don't even fucking play football.

38 year-old Joe Flacco came in off his couch and threw 13 TDs in the month of December alone. That's how many Pickett has for entire career. Kenny sucks. If he hadn't gone to Pitt, he wouldn't even be in the NFL right now. The sooner everyone realizes it and admits it, the better the team will be.

[Iceman]

Sorry, but the object is to win. Every win counts the same. Are you saying that the Seahawks and Bengals played harder when Rudolph was in there?

As far as Flacco, the Browns got as far as the Steelers did. Flacco has also had a number of years of experience in different systems. Pickett was saddled with Canada.

Pickett may well turn out to be a flop, but I believe that given Tomlin's mistake in bringing back Canada he deserves one more shot.

Obviously you believe different.

[tommy156]

Originally Posted by Iceman

Sorry, but the object is to win. Every win counts the same. Are you saying that the Seahawks and Bengals played harder when Rudolph was in there?

Maybe I'm not making myself clear. When the Steelers played the Bengals, the Bengals needed to win to remain in the playoff hunt. Mason came in and played the best QB we've seen in Pittsburgh since 2020.

Same with the Seahawks. Seattle absolutely had to have that game to stay alive for a playoff spot. Mason again played superbly and shut the Seahawks down in one of the toughest environments in the NFL.

The offensive line also improved with Mason behind center, as did the running game. Mason actually posed a legitimate deep passing threat that opposing defenses had to respect. With Kenny, there was no threat, so defenses could just overload the box and collapse the line ad nauseum.

Anybody who thinks the offensive line and running game just magically became better over the last month doesn't really understand these things. Better QB play means better overall offense with more options. Mason was basically playing in Canada's system too. He's a much better QB than Kenny is. It's undeniable.

I'm also not saying that Mason is the long term answer at QB, but I damn sure know that Kenny isn't either. I predict he'll go down as one of the worst 1st round picks in franchise history.

[Charley3]

Originally Posted by Iceman

Why wouldn't he say Pickett is number 1? Neither Rudolph or Trubisky are likely to be back.

Rudolph beat 2 teams (Seahawks & Bengals) who didn't make the playoffs and the Ravens backups. Pickett beat the Bengals and Ravens starters under Canada.

Give Pickett a chance with a competent OC and QB coach and let's see what he can do. If he can't cut it and they post a poor record, maybe they'll draft low enough to get a top rated QB in the draft.

Meantime, build up your O and D lines this year.

I agree we should try to give Pickett more time with a real OC. I like that Tomlin has to look outside the organization and Omar Khan is involved. I’ve lost trust in Tomlin or Rooney to pick good coordinators so let’s hope Khan helps.
I would however not rule out drafting another QB high in the draft. Doubt we’ll do it though.

[Charley3]

Can we please have a separate political forum. So other topics don’t get buried.

Anyway, Tomlin hired Arthur Smith as their new OC. He had absolutely none of the qualities and experience of what new NFL offenses are all about. More of the clumsy, obvious run, run, pass, punt bullshit we’ve seen in the past. His only claim to fame is he had a couple good years at Tennessee. Only problem is Najee Harris is no Derek Henry. Not even close.
Another Tomlin garbage hire IMHO.

[Jacuzzme]

Pickett will be a legacy QB for the Steelers in the same way Ben and Terry are.

[chizzy]

Originally Posted by Charley3

Can we please have a separate political forum. So other topics don’t get buried.

Anyway, Tomlin hired Arthur Smith as their new OC. He had absolutely none of the qualities and experience of what new NFL offenses are all about. More of the clumsy, obvious run, run, pass, punt bullshit we’ve seen in the past. His only claim to fame is he had a couple good years at Tennessee. Only problem is Najee Harris is no Derek Henry. Not even close.
Another Tomlin garbage hire IMHO.

agreed 100%

[Smarty1]

Originally Posted by Jacuzzme

Pickett will be a legacy QB for the Steelers in the same way Ben and Terry are.

Wow. I hope you’re right, but I have seen nothing in his play to indicate that he will be anything more than a bad to mediocre NFL QB when it’s all said and done (which might well be the end of the 2024 season if he doesn’t play better than he has thus far). I know Bradshaw had a rough start to his career, but they had at least won a playoff game by his third season (The Immaculate Reception game was 1972; Bradshaw’s rookie year was 1970). Let’s see if Kenny can come even close to that before we deem him the next great Steeler QB.

Ben, well he had a ring to start year 3, so Kenny’s already behind in that respect. I really don’t see anything changing, especially since they hired an OC who was fired from his previous job and will likely be looking to implement an offense that isn’t too different from the one they ran this year. What’s that thing about doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result?

[Smarty1]

Originally Posted by Charley3

Can we please have a separate political forum. So other topics don’t get buried.

Anyway, Tomlin hired Arthur Smith as their new OC. He had absolutely none of the qualities and experience of what new NFL offenses are all about. More of the clumsy, obvious run, run, pass, punt bullshit we’ve seen in the past. His only claim to fame is he had a couple good years at Tennessee. Only problem is Najee Harris is no Derek Henry. Not even close.
Another Tomlin garbage hire IMHO.

Agreed. Tomlin never should have been given authority to hire the new OC. It should have been Khan and/or Weiddle (sorry if either of those are misspelled) doing it. I would have preferred an OC that Tomlin was NOT comfortable with, one who challenged Tomlin’s notions on how an offense should be run. Instead we got basically a more competent (hopefully!) version of Matt Canada, who likely will run basically the same offense they did this year. We all jumped on the “Fire Matt Canada” train, and rightfully so, but does anyone really think Tomlin was truly unhappy with the type of offense that they were running this year? It was exactly the offense Tomlin wanted, and we will get more of the same next year — allowing Tomlin to make the OC hire ensures that.

[tommy156]

Originally Posted by Jacuzzme

Pickett will be a legacy QB for the Steelers in the same way Ben and Terry are.

LOL!!!! Holy shit. Not even close. Please tell me you posted this for shock value.

[tommy156]

Originally Posted by Smarty1

Agreed. Tomlin never should have been given authority to hire the new OC. It should have been Khan and/or Weiddle (sorry if either of those are misspelled) doing it. I would have preferred an OC that Tomlin was NOT comfortable with, one who challenged Tomlin’s notions on how an offense should be run. Instead we got basically a more competent (hopefully!) version of Matt Canada, who likely will run basically the same offense they did this year. We all jumped on the “Fire Matt Canada” train, and rightfully so, but does anyone really think Tomlin was truly unhappy with the type of offense that they were running this year? It was exactly the offense Tomlin wanted, and we will get more of the same next year — allowing Tomlin to make the OC hire ensures that.

Arthur Smith was OC of a Top 5 offense in Tennessee (Tannehill and Henry), which has me distantly hoping that Tannehill (now a free agent) comes to Pittsburgh.

Let Kenny can hold a fucking clipboard, because he can't hold a real NFL QB's jockstrap. I wish they'd just cut him, but they'd have to admit it was a mistake picking him #20 overall, and that won't be happening any time soon.

[Smarty1]

Originally Posted by tommy156

Arthur Smith was OC of a Top 5 offense in Tennessee (Tannehill and Henry), which has me distantly hoping that Tannehill (now a free agent) comes to Pittsburgh.

Let Kenny can hold a fucking clipboard, because he can't hold a real NFL QB's jockstrap. I wish they'd just cut him, but they'd have to admit it was a mistake picking him #20 overall, and that won't be happening any time soon.

I have no doubt that Smith is a competent OC. He did a good job in Tennessee, but he had Henry and Tannehill to work with there. Tannehill is no great shakes, but I’d certainly rather have him than Pickett. Henry was a generational RB. No knock on Najee Harris or Jaylen Warren (both of whom I think are very good backs), but neither of them are Derek Henry.

If KP is the real deal and he was being held back by Matt Canada’s crappy offense, as many are saying, then it would have made sense to hire an OC who is an innovative, up and coming assistant somewhere where they had an aggressive passing game that took some risks and threw downfield. A strong run game can still be part of such an offense; the two facets are complementary. The downfield passing threat loosens up the box for the running game; the running threat makes play action passing more effective.

Instead they hired an OC who will likely install a run-oriented offense with little in the way of shot taking downfield. It pretty much, IMO is an admission that KP can’t be the focal point of an offense and cannot be effective throwing the ball downfield. If that is truly the case, then hiring Smith makes sense. He can get the best out of an offense that has a QB with limited talent. If they only hired him because he runs the kind of offense that Tomlin wants to run, then they have bigger issues than just KP being a crappy QB. That’s why I would have preferred a hire outside of Tomlin’s comfort zone. If Kenny can’t do it, sure they would stink this year, but that could put them into a position where they might be able to draft a QB next year who can run that type of offense.

We have seen this years playoffs. Look at the way the Chiefs, LIons, 49ers, Ravens, Bills, etc. play offense. It looks nothing like how the Steelers do things. It’s not a coincidence that the teams winning playoff games play a different style than the Steelers do. If Tomlin thinks that KP can’t run that type of offense then we need a new QB who can. If Tomlin thinks HIS offensive style is the way to go and they just haven’t executed it effectively, then Pickett isn’t the real problem.

[tommy156]

Mason looked like a Pro Bowler in essentially the same offense Kenny had. Kenny threw 2 TDs in 8 games? Lol. Mason surpassed that in 3 quarters. The difference was night and day.

[Charley3]

I don’t know how true this is, but a rumor is out there having Tannihill come to the Steelers. Makes sense in a way, Arthur Smith and him had pretty good success together.
I just don’t know if Tannihill has anything left in the tank.
I’d at least consider going after Justin Fields if the price is right but I doubt the Bears would ever trade with us again after we robbed them in what was essentially Claypool for Joey Porter Jr.