Steelers make contentious draft choice and go with Pickett as number one

Did a past mistake sway the Steelers to make this pick?

That aside, there is another issue. Why do those of us who wanted a quarterback seemingly have an uneasy feeling in our stomachs? Part of it stems from the possibility that something will go astray, and Pickett might not possibly work out. The other part feels like the pick seemed forced in that they may have wanted a quarterback, but they only chose Pickett to appease the fans that have never forgiven the Steelers for passing on Dan Marino in 1983.

Sure drafting the local boy makes sense. The Lions took Adian Hutchinson, but Hutchinson was easily one of the top five players In the draft, so in that case, it made sense. So the lingering question is, despite Colbert’s or Tomlin’s attempts to sugarcoat it by saying he is a mature young man and anything else he wants to include, you have to wonder how much the ghost of not drafting Marino played into this decision?

Maybe Pickett proves everyone wrong and has a long prosperous career like Big Ben. If so, great. We will have a better idea once the pre-season games are over as to how likely that might be. Then again, he could flop.

The fear here is and perhaps rightfully so, is that a pick was made 39 years ago and we sit around and talk about the choice the Steelers could have made. Thus 39 years from today, will fans will sit around and argue about how dumb the choice was to go with Pickett? Surely we will have to see,  but it makes one think if anything else.