NFL analyst and four-time Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw hasn’t been shy about criticizing his former team when addressing signal-caller Kenny Pickett. Bradshaw did that again during a Q&A podcast last week.
While appearing on The Home Services Podcast on July 1, Bradshaw argued the Steelers failed the quarterback they drafted at No. 20 overall in the 2022 NFL Draft.
“A first-rounder, got rid of him after two years, and they’re still looking for a quarterback,” Bradshaw said. “They didn’t even do anything to build around him.
“You draft a quarterback in the first round. He is going to be successful, but you’ve gotta surround him with the kind of talent he had in college.
“They don’t do it, and they call him a bust.”
The Steelers traded Pickett to the Philadelphia Eagles less than two years after picking him in the first round. Pickett wanted to be traded, but that request came after the team signed Russell Wilson in free agency. The Steelers also elected to keep Mason Rudolph in the starting lineup for the team’s playoff game to end the 2023 season.
Did the Steelers Fail QB Kenny Pickett?
Bradshaw used Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold as examples of first-round quarterbacks who struggled with the team that drafted him but experienced success elsewhere. That supported Bradshaw’s argument that first-round signal-callers can be successful if surrounded with the right talent.
The NFL analyst could have easily cited himself as well, which could be a big reason why Bradshaw has been so adamant about the Steelers failing Pickett when he addresses the subject publicly.
It took Bradshaw six years to become a Pro Bowl quarterback. But once he did, he became the most successful signal-caller of the 1970s.
Bradshaw has a valid point. NFL teams typically give first-round picks more than two years to develop. Pickett was also 14-10 with an offensive coordinator regarded as one of the worst in the league and was fired midseason in 2023.
But with 13 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in 25 games, bringing in competition for Pickett was more than fair. And that was the last thing that led to Pickett deciding he wanted to go elsewhere.
Bradshaw faced competition with Joe Gilliam and Terry Hanratty. But Bradshaw didn’t shy from competition and outplayed both of them in 1974 to become the Steelers permanent starter during the franchise’s first Super Bowl run.
Pickett Competing for Starting Job With Cleveland Browns
If Pickett is going to become the next Mayfield or Darnold, he will have to do it with the Cleveland Browns. That won’t be easy, as Cleveland has one of the most crowded quarterback rooms in the league.
In addition to Pickett, the Browns added Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders this offseason.
Regardless of what happens in Cleveland, the Steelers could have always done more to support Pickett. Keeping Matt Canada as offensive coordinator in 2023 was the most obvious mistake the Steelers made.
But two things can be true at the same time — the Steelers failed to maximize Pickett’s talent, and Pickett wasn’t really a first-round talent to begin with.
“As usual, the reason for Pickett’s struggles are layered,” wrote Steelers Depot’s Alex Kozora. “Pittsburgh could’ve done more to give him more help. A stronger running game would’ve benefitted him.
“But Pickett was also a mis-evaluation, a front office caught-up in the ‘comfort’ Pickett brought as the team’s next-door neighbor. One not nearly as accurate as the team believed he’d be.”
Pickett has to become a starter somewhere else for his time in Pittsburgh to be a complete team failure, not his own.
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