By Nick Brinkerhoff
Welcome back to 2003. Weird right? The first iPhone is still four years away from being released. Tom Brady only has one Super Bowl ring. Tobey Maguire was only Spider Man for a year, and gas prices were only $1.59 a gallon at the time on average. Those were the days.
Unless you are a Pittsburgh Steelers fan of course. It was the last time a quarterback not named Ben Roethlisberger took the field for the fans that root for the team from the three rivers city.
Before Big Ben, there was Tommy Maddox. Now 19 years later, Steeler fans shudder at the thought of anyone other than the ole reliable number seven taking snaps under center. For now, they’ll have to get used to a new number. Number 10. Mitchell Trubisky, the former second overall pick of the Chicago Bears.
It appears, at this point, that Trubisky will be given the first crack at the starting job, which allows us with the chance to pivot to the backup quarterback, one of the more intriguing options in the league.
Who is the Steelers backup quarterback?
From number seven to number eight? That is what Steelers fans will be hoping for all season long, unless a switch happens sooner than anticipated. The NFL media often points to the quarterback position being a tough transition for rookie signal callers.
However, if there was one to buck the trend, it may just be Kenny Pickett. The former Pittsburgh Panthers star Pickett will find his day to day life as not much different from his college days. Yes, the University of Pittsburgh not only plays their games at Heinz Field, but they also share a building with the Steelers as well.
So all Pickett needs to do is walk down a different hallway to the NFL side of the building. Nothing else changes. Not the coffee shop he frequents, the grocery store he shops in, or the favorite restaurant he eats at. Just complete focus on being an NFL player.
It’s a rare opportunity for a young quarterback to be so comfortable in this new setting, and one that will probably pay major dividends for Pickett in the fall.
The 2022 NFL Draft was a notoriously weak class for quarterbacks on paper, but Pickett should develop into a fine piece for a Steelers team that does not need elite quarterback play. If anything, Pickett projects in the mold of somewhere between Raiders quarterback Derek Carr and former Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton.
Pickett departed the University of Pittsburgh as a four year starter and the school’s all-time leading passer. 2021 was the breakout year for number eight, tossing 42 touchdowns to only seven interceptions on 4,319 yards passing.
The 20th pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, Pickett is the type of player you should expect to see at some point this season. While Steelers fans are sad to see Big Ben go, it’s obvious he was no longer the same player of old and change was needed. Pickett could be exactly what the Steelers need as one that can also use his legs and be dangerous in the open field.
Whether Pickett will find NFL success is hard to say, but that is what makes this unknown a fun thing to ponder. Can he be the reason for the Steelers success? Can he be a solid fantasy option? Is he the type of guy you want on your side when betting on the Steelers? Who knows, but one thing is for certain.
It’s an exciting new era in Pittsburgh, an era that is set to begin sooner rather than later.