Pittsburgh Steelers QB Kenny Pickett has been downright awful this season. In fact, he's arguably having one of the worst seasons for a quarterback since the AFL-NFL merger. I know, really.
It would be a surprise for Mike Tomlin to bench Pickett now. The second-year product out of Pitt has 'led' his team to a 6-4 record, and rarely turns the ball over. He's struggled to go through his progressions on a regular basis, and rarely throws the ball to the middle of the field.
In fact, he's willing to miss wide-open receivers just to avoid a throw over the middle.
Tomlin refused to blame Pickett at all for the result (a loss in Cleveland), while the Steelers young QB did admit he needs to play better. In fact, the entire offense does. Pickett is not alone in deserving blame, but he is the leader of the offense and the subpar numbers ultimately reflect poorly on him, too.
Could the Steelers replace Kenny Pickett with Mason Rudolph?
Mason Rudolph's had a rough go of it in Pittsburgh. The former Oklahoma State product was never really given a fair shot to replace Ben Roethlisberger. In fact, Big Ben openly loathed showing Rudolph the ropes, and avoided it.
Rudolph does have some starting experience. It's not all bad, and on most teams he'd be a serviceable backup QB. An argument can be made that he would be a better option than Pickett right now, but there are a few flaws with that thinking.
The majority of fans answered Rudolph to the question Pittsburgh sports media legend Bob Pompeani asked above.
Rudolph had a chance to compete for the starting QB job in Pickett's rookie season, but ultimately lost to both the rookie from Pitt and Mitch Trubisky, who still serves as Pickett's backup. That process did not sit well with Rudolph, who openly complained after losing out. Yet, somehow, he's still in Pittsburgh a year later.
Even if the Steelers were to bench Pickett, it would more than likely be for Trubisky, rather than Rudolph. Odds are, Pickett will receive the reins for the rest of the season, and head into 2024 on the hot seat.
Playing in Canada's system offers Pickett an out as a young signal-caller. However, that excuse will only last for so long.