Former Member Of Steelers Organization Would Easily Prefer Zach Wilson Over Kenny Pickett

It's safe to say that fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers shouldn't be fully sold on second-year quarterback, Kenny Pickett. He has shown that he can be an efficient NFL signal-caller, but the bad has outweighed the good for the majority of his young career. No one can know for sure if he doesn't have what it takes or simply has an incompetent offensive play-caller right now in Matt Canada. Regardless, the organization cannot wait around in a quarterback-driven league. They need to decide sooner rather than later if Pickett is going to be the guy for the foreseeable future.

Pickett has thrown for 11 touchdowns and 13 interceptions up to this point in his career. It doesn't take a football fanatic to grasp how unfortunate those two numbers are next to one another. There was a strong quarterback class coming out of college in 2023 and there will be another one in 2024. It makes Steelers fans wonder if passing on Pickett in 2022 would have been the right move.

Steelers May Have Made A Mistake In Drafting Pickett

To his credit, he has not had a strong offensive line and Canada has not done him any favors whatsoever. That won't stop some criticism from coming his way, however. Andrew Fillipponi, a vocal radio host for 93.7 The Fan, has been a huge fan of Pickett since he was drafted. Some of his enthusiasm wasn't just put in check by the rough game in Houston, but also by a former Steelers player who would rather have another highly-criticized young quarterback.

Fillipponi doesn't even confirm that it was a former player, although it seems like he is implying that it was. Whoever it was, they must not have been watching Zach Wilson over the last few years. Wilson had the best game of his career on Sunday night, though, and that might have sparked the controversial message to Fillipponi, who was not happy about it.

The two quarterbacks dueled in out in Pittsburgh in 2022 when Pickett replaced Mitch Trubisky at halftime in Week 4. Wilson threw two interceptions, but ended up being on the winning side. Wilson's career looked to be almost over when the New York Jets aggressively went after Aaron Rodgers in the 2023 offseason. However, Rodgers tore his Achilles, and Wilson has been thrown back into the starting role.

It's probably a bit of a stretch for anyone to say Wilson should be the preferred quarterback when he is in a conversation with Pickett, but the Steelers former first-round pick isn't doing himself any favors on the field. All quarterbacks are going to turn the ball over, but doing so more often than throwing touchdown passes is not a recipe for success at the NFL level and that's what Pickett has done through his first 17 career games.

The comments from the former Steelers player to Fillipponi came just hours after Pickett suffered a concerning knee injury, although it is not expected to be season-ending. When he returns, Pickett is going to need to step up if Pittsburgh wants to find a way to make a run as the season goes on and into the postseason. Time will tell if Wilson has a better career than Pickett, but it seems very unlikely at this point in time given Wilson's significant struggles since 2021.

The Steelers and Jets both have made incorrect decisions when drafting their two current starting signal-callers. Wilson is unlikely to have his fifth-year option picked up in the 2024 offseason and the same may be the case for Pickett in 2025 if he continues to struggle on the field.

Would you rather have Wilson in Pittsburgh over Pickett? Let us know in the comments below!

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