I'm old enough to remember all the dire predictions of life for the Steelers after Ben Roethlisberger. I remember discussions about the Steelers entering the "dark ages" like they allegedly were in between the time Terry Bradshaw and Roethlisberger eras.
Heck, I even remember when the Steelers lost a few games early this season ,many of the Roethlisberger fan-boy club were calling for the Steelers to bring him back.
Where is that crowd today?
It turns out they were partially right ... there was a dark age, and it lasted all of about eight or nine games.
Kenny Pickett has a long way to go, but he has proven the last two weeks that the Steelers are going to be just fine under his watch. Pickett is the Steelers' next franchise quarterback, and he is going to lead them to a lot of wins over the next decade or so. I can say that with relative confidence because he has many of the same qualities that made Roethlisberger great.
People continue to point out that Pickett has grit and determination and he is a winner with the "it" factor much like Roethlisberger and all the great ones. I get that and he certainly does, but that stuff also completely undersells his physical talent.
Pickett has the arm talent to be a big-time NFL quarterback; he has proven he can make all the throws. There isn't a single throw I have seen that an NFL quarterback has to make that he can't make. He can fit balls into tight windows with enough velocity to get into his receivers' arms. He can take and hit deep shots. He can throw deep posts and deep corner routes. He can get the ball to the sideline fast enough to give his receivers a chance to run after the catch.
Those were all things we had some questions about before he took the field in an NFL game. I am not sure how anyone could have watched the Steelers this year and not come to the conclusion he definitely has the arm talent to be an elite NFL quarterback.
He is also a hell of an athlete. He is able to improvise (like Roethlisberger did), make throws on the run and make plays with his legs as well as his arm. The touchdown to Najee Harris was an excellent throw, but the athleticism, balance and poise Pickett showed to escape the pocket, evade a tackler and keep the play alive long enough to develop was even more impressive.
I was just as curious as anyone to watch Pickett get his shot and see how he developed in the NFL, but I've seen enough to now make an educated guess on the way his career is going to go. Barring injury — as always with football players — he is going to be really good for the Steelers. He is going to give them a chance to not even miss a beat in the aftermath of Roethlisberger and they will be legitimate contenders, probably as soon as next year.
Pickett has a lot of development that needs to be done: His numbers aren't great, he hasn't thrown for a lot of touchdowns, the Steelers have scored a total of two touchdowns over the last two games and have averaged only 14.5 points per game in these last two wins. There is no question he has to keep working at becoming more productive, as he can't just rely on late-game blood and guts to win games against teams with better offenses than the Raiders and Ravens.
But all of those things — becoming a better, more polished quarterback — come with experience and can be taught. What you can't teach is what Pickett has done at the end of the last two games, and that is find a way to lead his team to win the game. There are a lot of "stat" guys who put up big numbers and throw prettier passes than Pickett, but they will never lead their team to anything of significance because they don't have that ability to will their teams to win.
Pickett, like Roethlisberger, doesn't melt in the game's biggest moments like a number of quarterbacks who are more physically talented than he is. That is just why some players are great and others are just good. and Pickett has a lot of the intangibles — and more than enough of the tangibles — to be a great one.
I wasn't ready to say that 17 weeks ago when the season started because I needed to wait to see him play and see how his game translated in the NFL. I am confident of it now.
Regardless if the Steelers finish the job and make the playoffs next week or not, the truth is there will be no Steelers "dark ages" in the wake of Roethlisberger's retirement. The Steelers are in Pickett's hands now, and that's a great thing — regardless of how small they allegedly are.
