How long will it take for Steelers Kenny Pickett to break Big Ben's records?

Interceptions

Again another stat we hope Pickett does not come close to hitting, but every quarterback will throw some at some point for one reason or another. Ben Roethlisberger, in 18 seasons, tossed 211 interceptions. Pickett, by comparison, only threw nine and was the first quarterback since Jim Miller in 1995 against the Vikings to come off the bench and throw three interceptions. He got much better after that. He only threw four interceptions in the remaining 13 games.

At his current pace of averaging seven interceptions a season, it would take Pickett 29.14 seasons to reach Big Ben's total. Now let's say his interception total averaged about 15 a season; he would reach Roethlisberger's mark in about 13.6 seasons. Big Ben averaged 14 per season, so to avoid reaching 211 interceptions, all Pickett needs to do is average less than 14 a season, and he should be fine.

While stats alone will not dictate how great of a quarterback Kenny Pickett will be; however, they go a long way in the discussion from a comparative standpoint. In some respects, when people discuss who was better, Bradshaw or Roethlisberger, they look at the stats and say Big Ben was obviously better. Not considering that teams in those days used the rushing game to set up their passing game.

Now teams just come out zipping the ball around and have no rushing game at times. Then combine that with the fact that in the '70s, defensive personnel could body slam a quarterback, which was legal. Case in point Turkey Jones's sack of Bradshaw in 1976. In fairness, Jones did get penalized for that sack, but for quarterbacks in the '70s, it was not uncommon for quarterbacks to have similar hits not penalized.

The point is stats are only part of the discussion. An example is Ben Roethlisberger’s shoestring tackle in the 2005 playoff game against the Colts, propelling them to the AFC championship game. Kenny Pickett did get off to a great start in 2022, and as fans, it will be interesting to see if Pickett can enter the discussion of which quarterback is the greatest in Steelers history.