Purchase Or Promote: QB Desmond Ridder’s lack of success below Arthur Smith needs to be regarding for the Steelers and Kenny Pickett.
Clarification: The Steelers are bringing in an offensive coordinator who, as a head coach, drafted and didn’t develop a quarterback. They occur to have a quarterback from that very same draft class, the one one drafted earlier that yr. If Arthur Smith didn’t succeed with Desmond Ridder, what does that imply for his future with Pickett?
Purchase:
Let’s begin with a broader dialogue. Basic consensus held that the 2022 quarterback class was one of many weakest in a few years. The truth that Kenny Pickett was the primary to be drafted at 20 tells you ways NFL groups seen the group. So perhaps Arthur Smith is simply working with a foul batch in Desmond Ridder and now Kenny Pickett with the Steelers.
Whereas Ridder fell to the third spherical, groups didn’t draft every other quarterback after the Steelers drafted Pickett. We’re coping with the 2 finest quarterbacks within the class as seen by groups at the moment. Form of. For all we all know, the Steelers had been the one group to have a first-round grade on any of the quarterbacks.
From a “instruments” perspective, Ridder largely has the identical equipment at Pickett. He’s extra aggressive and thus extra error-prone but in addition extra prolific. And so they each have a bunch of game-winning drives in the event you care about that kind of factor. Steelers followers used to however don’t anymore, it appears.
Promote:
What we are able to say in regards to the state of the Steelers in the previous couple of years is that their offense didn’t get essentially the most out of their gamers. Significantly the quarterback place. That’s why they fired Matt Canada in the midst of final season.
We are able to’t fairly say that about Smith’s time with the Falcons as a result of it’s much less apparent who Ridder is. His deadly mistake tended to be turnovers, notably within the purple zone. That’s not unusual for a younger starter.
And he did have success getting essentially the most out of Ryan Tannehill with the Tennessee Titans. I do know that’s going to be talked about rather a lot, however that’s actually the springboard of his profession. He does deserve credit score for that. And Pickett has some commonalities with Tannehill in distinction to Ridder.
With the Steelers’ 2023 season within the rearview mirror following a disappointing yr that got here up quick within the playoffs as soon as once more, it’s time to start out asking extra questions. Questions in regards to the group’s future in 2024 and past. Questions on The Customary.
The rookie class of a yr in the past was, on the entire, spectacular, however they should step up into staple starters in 2024. And so they probably want a powerful inflow of expertise in each free company and within the 2024 NFL draft but once more. Along with a revisitation of the teaching employees.
These kinds of uncertainties are what I’ll look to handle in our Purchase or Promote sequence. In every installment, I’ll introduce a subject assertion and weigh a few of the arguments for both shopping for it (that means that you just agree with it or count on it to be true) or promoting it (that means you disagree with it or count on it to be false).
