If the O line doesn’t improve they’ll need more than 3 QBs !
I wouldn’t risk KP until I see some improvements up front , no use getting him killed .
I wouldn’t risk KP until I see some improvements up front , no use getting him killed .
Ot: I tried telling you guys (steeler QBs)
- Thread starter Fk_Pitt
- Start date
I honestly prefer that Pickett not get the nod. For one, he might get killed as you mention. Second, most likely the team isn’t going to do very well, and if Pickett is the qb you just know the brains like Ron Cook will rant that it is Pickett aka “the Pitt guy” at fault, much how they blamed Conner for the terrible run blocking OL.
But that guy is actually pretty instructive to the Rudolph situation. Nick Mullens has both started and played more NFL games than Rudolph. He has completed a higher percentage of his passes while still averaging significantly more yards per attempt. Their TD rates are essentially the same, but Mullens' interception rate is worse. Rudolph's career QB rating is 80.9 while Mullens' is 87.3.
So if all Mullens was worth was a conditional seventh round pick, what is Rudolph worth?
I saw somone tweeted this out today and it made a lot of sense. If you start trebisky and he doesnt do well, you easily replace him with pickett. If you start pickett and he doesnt do well, it's MUCH harder to replace him with Mitch.
Thats why you go with Mitch to start. in a weird way, it makes sense.
Thats why you go with Mitch to start. in a weird way, it makes sense.
Or, you start Pickett, he DOES do well, and you never look back for the next 12 years!
The next step, maybe we see it Sunday, is seeing Kenny throw the ball further than a MLB pitcher throwing to home plate. I think he’s done that twice in roughly 3 quarters worth of play this preseason. I think every one of us are huge Kenny supporters here, but I just want to pump the breaks a bit until we see defenses game plan for this type of thing. Afterall, last year we were being told that a 5.5 or 6 yard completion % is pathetic and unacceptable. Now that it’s our guy, we all have the KY jelly out.
Its hard to argue how Tomlin has mapped this thing out. Kenny has checked each box along the way with flying colors. Here’s hoping he checks this last box…and I think the job could be his. It would be hard not to give it to him.
But isn't that more Canada's offense? As I recall when he was here for that magic season, the big downfield pass play was not a featured part of his offense.
We know KP can sling it, we've seen it with out own eyes. He's running the plays that Canada is calling. Maybe their holding back on that until the O line gets its $hit together in pass pro?
But thinking somehow KP has forgotten how to throw the long ball, and with Johnson, Claypool, and Pickens available as targets, there's no way he couldn't hit them if they get open. Even here, he could go deep while moving the pocket.
pittdan77
Athletic Director
Not much of a difference, to be honest. Your expectation as a backup in most towns is to know the offense, don't make a total mess of things, and be affordable. Very rare that a backup succeeds but I think in those cases, the offense around them are just really good. You can't argue that for either of those guys.
Oh no doubt. And his accuracy is his strength. But doing it at this level just needs to be shown. That’s all I’m saying. At the same time we will learn if Canada’s offense works in the NFL. Of course all this is dependent on adequate OL play.
Pickett hasn't exactly been dinking and dunking out there.
Against the Jags, he connected with each of the Steelers' starting receivers as well as tight end Pat Freiermuth for gains of 24, 17, 16 and 11 yards.
The only "long" pass I remember from the first two games was Rudolph's TD to Pickens which was like 40 yards?
Canada's offense succeeds with a lot of shifting and misdirection as well as moving the pocket, jet sweep and shovel pass.
I agree a lot of that stuff may not work in the NFL because of the speed and strength of the players on defense.
That said, Pickett can certainly run that offense. Trubisky can as well, but he's had accuracy issues in the past and is slower getting rid of the ball at times.
Canada's offense actually masks a lot of a poor O line's deficiencies. We'll soon see.
It’s true that “success” for a Pitt guy is apt to be magnified. 5-6 yards average pass play was indeed ridiculed in the last couple seasons. The fast release dink and dunk passing of the last two seasons were at least partially blamed on Ben’s bad arm and loss of mobility, as well as the OL. But as I posted earlier in the thread, it is looking like we were a bit hard on Ben; even with younger more mobile healthy QBs, the same quick pass plays are still the norm, and look almost exclusively now to be because of the bad OL.
He has been dinking and dunking. I’m not going to search for the stat but it was shown that the ball traveled in the air more than 60 feet (hence my MLB reference) twice. I’m not complaining. I’m simply stating that seeing him do more against game planning and complex NFL defenses is the next step in his progression.
mitch threw a longer one to claypoole. Pickett's TD pass was about 15+ yards but called back on a holding. but the point is valid, lets see if we can get a little more vertical. IF the OL can give him enough time for the wrs to get downfield, which is probably the biggest reason why we havent seen it yet.
If they are going to trade him that's what they've got to hope for, maybe someone gets hurt this weekend and a team gets desperate. Because if they don't, the market shows that they will get the equivalent of nearly nothing for him in a trade.
Reading the game thread from that day would be worth its price in gold. As I recall, 90% of the people here claimed he wasn’t a viable NFL backup based on what they saw that day. Meanwhile, he had them in position to win except he had a hundred chips stacked against him that day (coach, playbook, didn’t practice, weather, 1 pro receiver to throw to, horrible OL).
It’s just like with Kenny…people refuse to acknowledge other factors than the QB.
