Yes, I am aware of what a significant number of you are thinking: “Jarrett and his persistently deranged thought process.”

And look, I don’t enjoy being a downer. But I’m a realist. And the reality is that the Steelers’ ceiling is incredibly low if they don’t make a serious move to upgrade at quarterback.

While trading for L’Jarius Sneed would undoubtedly give the Steelers the best cornerback duo in football, how far would that get them? If it was 2006, I’d be much more confident in the idea of building a juggernaut defense and hope that mid-to-poor quarterback play could take them deep into January. Unfortunately, though, it isn’t 2006 when a Rex Grossman-led team went 13-3 and made it to the Super Bowl. It’s a completely different league, and if you don’t have a real guy under center, your ceiling will be far lower than a team who does have a great quarterback.

Just look at the quarterbacks in the AFC alone: Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson, C.J. Stroud, Trevor Lawrence. You are going to have to beat any three of those guys in order to get to the Super Bowl, and you sure as hell aren’t doing that with Kenny Pickett. Every stat that comes out about Pickett paints a more grim picture than the last. Of 35 qualifying quarterbacks since the start of the 2022 season, Pickett ranked 33rd in yards per attempt, 34th in touchdown-interception ratio, and 34th in passer rating. And for anyone who is going to try the whole “He has a winning record and tons of fourth quarter comebacks” argument: Tim Tebow has a career winning record and led the NFL in fourth quarter comebacks in 2011- he was still very bad.

Furthermore, with at least 500 pass attempts under his belt, Pickett is the only quarterback in NFL history to have a touchdown percentage below two percent.

Everyone may concur that Matt You can’t have your cake and eat it too, but Canada was an awful offensive coordinator. Canada did not routinely miss open receivers or perform pocket pirouettes that resulted in sacks. Pickett was just as awful as Canada; these things aren’t mutually exclusive.

And look, I don’t enjoy being a downer. But I’m a realist. And the reality is that the Steelers’ ceiling is incredibly low if they don’t make a serious move to upgrade at quarterback.

While trading for L’Jarius Sneed would undoubtedly give the Steelers the best cornerback duo in football, how far would that get them? If it was 2006, I’d be much more confident in the idea of building a juggernaut defense and hope that mid-to-poor quarterback play could take them deep into January. Unfortunately, though, it isn’t 2006 when a Rex Grossman-led team went 13-3 and made it to the Super Bowl. It’s a completely different league, and if you don’t have a real guy under center, your ceiling will be far lower than a team who does have a great quarterback.

Just look at the quarterbacks in the AFC alone: Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson, C.J. Stroud, Trevor Lawrence. You are going to have to beat any three of those guys in order to get to the Super Bowl, and you sure as hell aren’t doing that with Kenny Pickett. Every stat that comes out about Pickett paints a more grim picture than the last. Of 35 qualifying quarterbacks since the start of the 2022 season, Pickett ranked 33rd in yards per attempt, 34th in touchdown-interception ratio, and 34th in passer rating. And for anyone who is going to try the whole “He has a winning record and tons of fourth quarter comebacks” argument: Tim Tebow has a career winning record and led the NFL in fourth quarter comebacks in 2011- he was still very bad.

Pickett is also the only quarterback in NFL history with at least 500 pass attempts to have a touchdown percentage lower than two percent- oof.

We can all agree that Matt Canada was a dreadful offensive coordinator, but you can’t have your cake and eat it too here. Canada didn’t constantly miss open receivers or do pirouettes in the pocket that led to sacks. Canada was bad, but Pickett was just as bad- these things aren’t mutually exclusive.

Which brings us to the outside options at quarterback, specifically Kirk Cousins and Justin Fields. It appears that Cousins may be on his way to Atlanta, but the Steelers should have been more aggressive in pursuit of the veteran quarterback. I don’t wanna hear about the achilles injury. Modern medicine all but takes care of any worries I have with that. Tom Brady tore his ACL and came back as if nothing happened. Adrian Peterson tore up his ACL and MCL and won an MVP after the fact. Cousins is going to be absolutely fine. And if he does end up with the Falcons, they are winning 11 games and comfortably winning the NFC South.

When it comes to Fields, the physical tools are there, and the fit with Arthur Smith’s offense is evident. The outside zone running scheme, combined with the utilization of Fields’ ability to run while using play action and taking advantage of receivers over the middle of the field- the potential is there.