We're coming up on five years since Ben Roethlisberger hung up his NFL cleats, and the Pittsburgh Steelers still haven't figured out a long-term plan at quarterback. In a desperate move to fill Big Ben's shoes, former general manager Kevin Colbert attempted to leave the Steelers with a parting gift in his final NFL Draft as the team's GM.
This was a poor decision.
Colbert had a spectacular track record for most of his 22 seasons in Pittsburgh, but his final five seasons were a disaster... and the Kenny Pickett selection was a blunder that's still haunting the team today.
Throughout the 2022 pre-draft process, Colbert was solely focused on finding Roethlisberger's successor. This came at the expense of missing out on prominent Pro Days with talented players performing.
Long before the 2022 draft, NFL experts, the media, and much of the fanbase recognized that it was a terrible quarterback class. But Colbert had a one-track mind, and it cost the team dearly.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are still feeling the effects of Kevin Colbert's Kenny Pickett selection from the 2022 draft
Unless the Steelers had taken Brock Purdy (who nobody was talking about as even a Day 2 prospect at the time), they likely would have busted on every QB they could have taken in the 2022 draft. Though most experts did not have first-round grades on any of these quarterbacks, Colbert dug his heels in and took Pickett with the 20th overall pick.
Pickett would go on to play just two seasons in Pittsburgh before being traded. Since 2024, Pickett has been on five different NFL rosters—the Steelers, Eagles, Browns, Raiders, and Panthers. This is typically the sign of a bad quarterback.
Ironically, Colbert recently doubled down on his decision to select Pickett during an appearance on the 93.7 The Fan morning show.
"We projected Kenny to be a start-and-win NFL quarterback, and quite honestly, he lived up to that in his first two seasons with us,"Â Colbert explained.
We all know better; he's not fooling anyone.
Had Colbert been focused on drafting the best football player at pick No. 20 in the 2022 draft instead of insisting on taking a quarterback in a bad QB class, the Steelers could have had a much better outcome.
In the picks immediately after the Steelers, players like cornerback Trent McDuffie, offensive lineman Tyler Smith, and center Tyler Linderbaum were selected. All three quickly became Pro Bowl and even All-Pro-level players.
Of course, not drafting a quarterback high in the 2022 draft would have meant kicking the can down the road for Pittsburgh to find its franchise QB. But Pickett proved to be nothing more than a setback anyway.
Finding the right quarterback takes patience.
Two years later, the 2024 class was one of the best QB classes I've ever graded, as it included players like Drake Maye, Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and Bo Nix. Under new front office management, the Steelers could have thrown their hat in the ring in a trade-up to land one of these quarterbacks.
I have no doubt that Kevin Colbert had good intentions in trying to find Roethlisberger's long-term replacement on his way out, but the process was all wrong, and he completely misevaluated the talent. Sadly, over four years later, the Pittsburgh Steelers are still paying the price.
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