I think we'd have won a few more games - yes. Do I think Rivera and Turner know how to develop a QB? Not sure. To be fair, we like to have it both ways. We talk about how if they only used Heinicke right, he'd be a starter. But we don't give the coaching any credit for seeing something in him and bringing him off the street and almost getting him to play at a starter level.
Would Pickett be where he is right now with the Steelers? Probably not. But then again, I think this coaching staff is winding down and won't be here much longer. We absolutely blew it not selecting Pickett.
Seeing him blossom makes me really pissed off. We have a young potential stud QB in Howell. To hear Rivera talk, you'd think no team in history played a rookie QB - it would be.... insanity! I'd have been more than fine never trading for Wentz, starting Heinicke, and working Howell into the mix. That would've been the smart thing to do. All of this nonsense about 'experience' and a 'veteran presence'.... look what that got us. Not all experience is good.
See, maybe I'm giving the roster too much credit, but I feel like this coaching staff has been lucking their way into the wins. We've seen a recipe for winning, yet we've appeared to always trend away from it in every aspect. We sit back watching the games at home and we can see glaring issues that EVERY opposing NFL coach can identify and exploit. 7 different Qbs have started games in THIS system for THIS team yet none have ever gotten better. I'm not saying the list is elite level Qbs, but none have even progressed.
Heinicke, as beloved as he is, has never matched the level of play he had in the first game he started for this team.
Wentz's best game was week 1 vs the Jaguars.
Kyle Allen came in and looked very serviceable in 4 games before he got his leg broken... played in 2 garbage time games the following season...
Dwayne Haskins had an 82 or better rating in 3 of his first 4 games in this offense... he got hurt, and failed to touch 80 again in his final 3 games he played here.
Fitzpatrick got hurt very early on
Gilbert only had 1 shot during a covid game, but he actually looked 'ok' given the circumstances
Alex Smith was barely on 1 leg and we all understand why there was no true success there.
The crop has been bad, and yes Pickett is probably better than an of those 7, in one form or another, but that is not a dynamic offense. In fact over the last 4 weeks, the Steelers have been winning the same way we were. They've scored 24 vs Car, 13 vs LV, 16 vs Bal. Timely drives by Pickett have won the last two, but we've outscored Pittsburgh over those last 3 weeks against 'better' competition outside of Baltimore (with a backup QB). This popped up on my twitter today and it jumped out at me. Our QBs have out performed Pickett as far as production and points...
 }})
