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A solid take

gary2

Athletic Director
Jul 21, 2001
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I don't understand why everyone is questioning should Pickett start or not.

We were 7-4 with a clear path to compete for the Division and number 1 seed in the playoffs.

Pickett was and always will be a gamer. A Kirk Cousins type of player.

That's not a terrible problem to have!

Mason Rudolph lit it up yesterday. I get it, as he should...he's been here learning under Big Ben (regardless off how they got along). But he's not your starter. He is though, 10x better than a Mitch Trubrisky
 
Too many yinzers tuning in the the local talking heads. The local media is a miserable bunch always searching for something imperfect. If Mason struggles next week, they will torch him and cite the crappy, partially neutered Bengals defense.

KP is the man and has looked pretty dang good with Canada. He’d have more TDs as well if big mouth Dropson didn’t lose another one in that game.

Everyone forgets, KP had them 7-4 and drove down the field to the 1 yard going for the lead against Arizona. He got hurt, Steelers couldn’t cash it in, Mitch has been terrible.
 
The last time Pickett played a full game it was against the Bengals, just like Rudolph's game yesterday was. The two guys stats from those two games:

24-33 for 278
17-27 for 290
And...Tomlin did not coach like he did yesterday.

At that point, he was still coaching (relative to yesterday) conservatively

Straight jackets have been on Steeler QBs including Big Ben's last years.

Pickett was never given a real chance at success, neither was Mason or Mitch (though Mitch was past deserving one)

The "Steeler (Tomlin) Way" is the reason behind poor QB play.
 
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Makes a lot of sense. I’m for giving Kenny a reset. Let him be the back up for the last two games.

Agree

Mason Has earned the opportunity to start another game He definitely should start. It gives KP a chance to sit back and reassess his game It also gives the Steelers a chance to see if Rudy at the very least is the back up for next year. As I said in another thread the back up qb is more important than ever given how often starters go down. And if Rudy does well then there’s competitor. For KP as the starter which is a good thing as well
 
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" I don’t care about the 195-yard, 2-touchdown performance. Bad is bad and despite his all-world talent, Pickens is someone who will eventually destroy a locker room and a team."

Keep him! what difference does it make? Having AB was better than not having him, it's not like him being there cost them anything. Besides, with Tomlin as coach, the locker room is bad no matter who's there :)
 
I don't understand why everyone is questioning should Pickett start or not.

We were 7-4 with a clear path to compete for the Division and number 1 seed in the playoffs.

Pickett was and always will be a gamer. A Kirk Cousins type of player.

That's not a terrible problem to have!

Mason Rudolph lit it up yesterday. I get it, as he should...he's been here learning under Big Ben (regardless off how they got along). But he's not your starter. He is though, 10x better than a Mitch Trubrisky
I wish he'd start playing as good as Cousins, so far, he hasn't.
 
I wish he'd start playing as good as Cousins, so far, he hasn't.
Cousins is seasoned. Dude has been doing it forever at this point. Main reason is because people didn't give up on him.

Dak Prescott is another good example of Pickett's ceiling.
 
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I don't understand why everyone is questioning should Pickett start or not.

We were 7-4 with a clear path to compete for the Division and number 1 seed in the playoffs.

Pickett was and always will be a gamer. A Kirk Cousins type of player.

That's not a terrible problem to have!

Mason Rudolph lit it up yesterday. I get it, as he should...he's been here learning under Big Ben (regardless off how they got along). But he's not your starter. He is though, 10x better than a Mitch Trubrisky


The Steelers defense is battered. They are pulling guys off the couch to fill in at ILB and Safety. Roberts is probably out for the remainder of the season as well. The Steelers can't rely on their defense much longer to win. They must score a lot of points to win now. Rudolph's performance earned him another start. It was the best quarterbacking we saw all season. Albeit, a lot went right yesterday The OL and Wr's played well also. It was one of the very few times this year that's happened.

Nobody is giving up on Kenny. I don't mind either way whether he starts or not. However I see little disadvantage in allowing Kenny to sit, heal and watch. at least for another week. If Rudolph falters and Kenny has healed enough to play, then put him in.
 
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Play Rudolph. Make it a 2-man competition next year. Cut Mitch and re-,sign Mason. Add a developmental QB. Mason has looked better in that one game than Kenny has at any point in his two years of starting.
 
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" I don’t care about the 195-yard, 2-touchdown performance. Bad is bad and despite his all-world talent, Pickens is someone who will eventually destroy a locker room and a team."

Keep him! what difference does it make? Having AB was better than not having him, it's not like him being there cost them anything. Besides, with Tomlin as coach, the locker room is bad no matter who's there :)
Except he’s not even close to being as good as AB
 
The Steelers defense is battered. They are pulling guys off the coach to fill in at ILB and Safety. Roberts is probably out for the remainder of the season as well. The Steelers can't rely on their defense much longer to win. They must score a lot of points to win now. Rudolph's performance earned him another start. It was the best quarterbacking we saw all season. Albeit, a lot went right yesterday The OL and Wr's played well also. It was one of the very few times this year that's happened.

Nobody is giving upon Kenny. I don't mind either way whether he starts or not. However I see little disadvantage in allowing Kenny to sit, heal and watch. at least for another week. If Rudolph falters and Kenny has healed enough to play, then put him in.
If you’re going to start Rudy next week, which I think they should there’s no point in playing KP in a last meaningless game even if Rudy and rhe offense regress to the mean.
 
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It's a real risk for Kenny and he'll be under real pressure to produce, in terms of points, yards and TDs if he plays, you think he's being bashed now? Wait until next Monday if he starts and throws for 150 yards, 0 TDs and 7 three&outs. and they score 17 points. even if they win the game 17-14 the wolves will be out ready to pounce.
 
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He's good enough to keep.
Can’t change the stripes on a zebra. The same crap we are seeing now was the exact rap on him he had coming out of college. There’s a reason why he’s in the bottom of the league in separation from DBs. If you could get a third or a forth rounder for him I’d trade him
 
It's a real risk for Kenny and he'll be under real pressure to produce, in terms of points, yards and TDs if he plays, you think he's being bashed now? Wait until next Monday if he starts and throws for 150 yards, 0 TDs and 7 three&outs. and they score 17 points. even if they win the game 17-14 the wolves will be out ready to pounce.
Yeah. I'm sure Kenny and the Steelers are going to be concerned after a win about what mouth-breathing mental midgets such as yourself have to shout.
 
This thread might be moot overall just based on Kenny’s physical condition. I’m not a doctor, but when they showed him on the sidelines during the broadcast on Saturday I thought he was still visibly limping.

I don’t think any of us would ever question Kenny’s toughness and I am sure he would tell anyone he can play, but if he doesn’t have close to full mobility I can’t see how you could put him in the game.

I guess we will see if another week of healing makes him less “limited”.
 
Play Rudolph. Make it a 2-man competition next year. Cut Mitch and re-,sign Mason. Add a developmental QB. Mason has looked better in that one game than Kenny has at any point in his two years of starting.
Yep.

Don't have to make any pronouncements about who is the #1, just say you are being careful with KPs ankle and let MR start the next two games for better of for worse.

Then, if MR plays well go into camp next summer with a legit "open" competition and let the best man win - he then has to perform during the regular season or the other guy gets another shot.

I love KP and am rooting for him, but this is life and this is the NFL, he's gotta do better than he has and win the job on merits.
 
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Yeah. I'm sure Kenny and the Steelers are going to be concerned after a win about what mouth-breathing mental midgets such as yourself have to shout.
So, he won't look bad continuing to put up anemic production and being carried by the D? So maybe they lose 31-17, what then? Will the "mouth breathers" still be wrong that he should produce yards and TDs and some games you need that, and you can't always win just protecting the ball? It would be nice to be able to give up 30 points and still win the game someday.
 
Yep.

Don't have to make any pronouncements about who is the #1, just say you are being careful with KPs ankle and let MR start the next two games for better of for worse.

Then, if MR plays well go into camp next summer with a legit "open" competition and let the best man win - he then has to perform during the regular season or the other guy gets another shot.

I love KP and am rooting for him, but this is life and this is the NFL, he's gotta do better than he has and win the job on merits.
Agree totally, see what Rudolph can do, see if he can do it more than once. and if he does, go into next training camp with no presumptive starter, at this point it should be that way anyways. Dump Mitch, get someone else as a free agent (NOT DOBBS) and maybe draft someone else too, and have a wide-open competition, make Kenny earn the job. he hasn't done that yet.
 
I really don't think there's much flip flopping with Pickett unless he's just cherry picking the few who live in the moment.

There are Pickett fans through and through who think it's the OC and everything around him. There's those who think Pickett is a bust. Then there's a group who think Pickett needs more time. All three groups have been pretty consistent.

Realistically, Pickett took a long time to develop at Pitt. The Steelers need to see a substantial step forward next year. An NFL level offensive coordinator will help, but Pickett needs to perform as well. We need to see better pocket presence, reading the field better, and quicker decisions in the red zone. No matter the excuses, his TD% is awful so far in his career. You can't even make excuses for his lack of production in that area.
 
Agree totally, see what Rudolph can do, see if he can do it more than once. and if he does, go into next training camp with no presumptive starter, at this point it should be that way anyways. Dump Mitch, get someone else as a free agent (NOT DOBBS) and maybe draft someone else too, and have a wide-open competition, make Kenny earn the job. he hasn't done that yet.
Yes, great plan. Imagine the look on a FA QB's face when you explain that you're bringing them in to possibly be an understudy to Mason Rudolph and that you're planning on drafting another QB, while totally ignoring the OL in the draft, again.
 
you realize the Steelers did this already when Ben went down and they "saw what Rudolph could do". It went so well he was replaced by someone named the duck.
And Kenny is not doing much better. If you think Kenny is living up to a #1 draft pick status, you're either insane or a hopelessly loyal Pitt homer with blue and gold glasses on.
 
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Yes, great plan. Imagine the look on a FA QB's face when you explain that you're bringing them in to possibly be an understudy to Mason Rudolph and that you're planning on drafting another QB, while totally ignoring the OL in the draft, again.
Hey, if you can get some QB that's established and clearly better than Kenny and Rudolph with a track record as a starter, then just hand him the starting job. it's not like Kenny has set the world on fire over 24 starts.
 
Hey, if you can get some QB that's established and clearly better than Kenny and Rudolph with a track record as a starter, then just hand him the starting job. it's not like Kenny has set the world on fire over 24 starts.
You're not ever getting that guy if Rudolph is heading into camp as the presumptive starter. Especially if you continue to ignore the OL. You can't just keep throwing money at the QB position and ignore the five guys that need to keep the QB upright. Ben couldn't win with the mish mash of garbage they put in front of him and they haven't done much to make that position group any better.
 
yeah, these good QB's are just growing on trees waiting for the Steelers to sign them as free agents.
I’m sure there’s a long line of qbs who would love to play for mediocre Mike The fact that the last two OCs were garbage, he’d be facing regular jailbreaks behind one of the worst OLs in the league, the TEs and WRs are mediocre at best would be an added bonus.
 
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yeah, these good QB's are just growing on trees waiting for the Steelers to sign them as free agents.
It's stupid to say that it's impossible and also, there are definitely more than a handful of QBs that could outperform Kenny, Mitch and Mason. None of the 3 has proven to be a competent NFL starter so far.

PS... I DON'T CARE that Kenny is from Pitt, I want THE STEELERS to have an above average QB, that MATTERS MORE to me than Kenny's career, if he wants to be it, he needs to start producing, lift himself way up and at least get to mediocre.
 
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stick with Rudolph from here on out unless he absolutely craps the bed. Rudolph had the only good QB performance of the season and needs to be the starter for the remainder of the year..

Bring in a Free Agent QB in off season to compete for the starter qb with KP next year. New OC, clean slate, let the best man win..
 
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