It's Pickett!! Kenny Stays Home.

I had decided that I would watch the insane circus that is the NFL Draft last night until I saw (a) who the Steelers would select, and (2) who would draft Pitt's Kenny Pickett.  The possibility existed that the Steelers might draft a quarterback.  Would it be Pickett or would it be Liberty University's Malik Willis?  As the draft progressed, it became more and more apparent that at least one, and possibly both, of them would be available to Rooney U when the 20th pick rolled around.

Lo and behold, when Franco Harris announced the pick, and it was certainly obvious that HE was happy with the selection, we all knew:  the Pitt kid would be staying in Pittsburgh,  Kenny Pickett would be a Pittsburgh Steeler!  The error made in 1983, when the Steelers did not draft Pitt's Dan Marino, would not be repeated thirty-nine years later.  It is a "feel good" pick to be sure.  (And speaking of feeling good, do you think Franco might have been just a wee bit over served in the Green Room before he came out on stage with Roger Goodell?)

As with any draft choice, we won't know for sure whether or not the Steelers made a mistake with this pick until at least the start of the 2022 season, and probably not for another two or three seasons.  People were nit-picking and finding flaws with Pickett ("hands too small";  please, give us a break with crap like that) in the months leading up to the Draft.  Does he have what it takes to be a Franchise Quarterback, the heir apparent to Terry Bradshaw and Ben Roethlisberger, or will he be just be another Mark Malone or Cliff Stoudt?  Plus, the Steelers have greater needs, and now what happens to Mitch Trubisky?  I haven't listened to any talk radio today, but I can only imagine that for every comment praising the Pickett selection, there will two others ripping it.

Of course, there is plenty of time to discuss the football aspect of this selection.  For what it's worth, I see a real competition in training camp between Trubisky and Pickett.  Trubisky may start the season, but if Pickett shows anything, anything at all, of what made him great at Pitt and a Heisman finalist, he could and maybe should become the number one guy midway through the season.  The guy I do feel bad for is Mason Rudolph.  He has to be feeling like Vaughn Meader on November 22, 1963.  I am guessing that he will be the one left standing when the music stops.  He probably makes too much money to be the Number Three QB, and the Steelers will trade him and sign an older vet to hold the clipboards and be available to suit up if Trubisky or Pickett get hurt.

My hope is that the folks of Steelers Nation don't put too much pressure on Pickett to be GREAT RIGHT NOW.   For all his claim to always being a "Pittsburgh guy", I think that deep down there is a part of Dan Marino that was glad he wasn't drafted by the Steelers where he would have been held to ridiculously high standards by the crowds and would have been torched for the slightest shortcomings.  I only hope that that does not happen to Pickett.

Now Rounds Two through Six will take place over today and tomorrow.  We will see how the Steelers address all of those other needs - O and D linemen, a corner, a wide receiver.  All of them, though, will be in the shadow of this year's Number One pick, Kenny Pickett of the University of Pittsburgh.

Welcome back home, Kenny!

Leaving Las Vegas!

Getting the news from Mike Tomlin

Thoughts from Pat Narduzzi