Steelers should pursue Kyler Murray as next QB

Since Kenny Pickett was drafted to be the successor to Big Ben, I have supported him in his effort to fill those shoes. He has faced a litany of criticism from fans and media alike, some of which founded in uninformed film breakdowns (a topic for another time), and some very well-founded. After this weekend, however, it is becoming increasingly difficult to continually defend Kenny and his lackluster play.

His saving grace throughout the season has been his 4th quarter heroics. The defense keeps them in games, makes just enough game-changing plays, and Kenny somehow finds a rhythm in the late stages of the game and leads the team to victory. This weekend, however, Kenny was more Clarke Kent than Superman. In the fourth quarter, where everyone expected Kenny to pull out a victory, the Steelers were forced to punt and a defense starting largely back up and even practice squad players in the back end gave up a game-winning field goal to lose to the Browns.

This shouldn’t be groundbreaking news to anyone, but Kenny has a low ceiling as an NFL starting quarterback. This weekend proved it. Without his 4th quarter heroics, Kenny was underwhelming, and it was hard to point at anything that would indicate a potential change in his game. As I have said, I don’t even know the basics of an NFL offense and what is being coached, so I am not going to use the plethora of film on Twitter to point out his flaws(and neither should you by the way). It is easy to sit in an air condition room without top-tier athletes chasing you and say “he should have made this read” or “Should have thrown it here”, but it isn’t a fair critique because none of us really know what we are looking at. 

However, from the position of a fan with a modest understanding of football, it is clear that Kenny to this point has yet to show that he can be the quarterback that can win a Superbowl. Even as someone who has been a fan of his and supported him, it’s time to admit that. Kenny is inconsistent, looks uncertain in the pocket, doesn’t throw the ball down the field, and has a bad habit of spinning into sacks. Even with the run game finding success the last two weekends, an argument I made for his success, Kenny still struggled with play action or in any obvious passing situation. 

In fairness to him, I think Kenny could be effective with the perfect offensive scheme with an expert-level offensive-minded coach. If he found himself with the likes of McVay, Shanahan, or McDaniel, he would be an average to slightly above-average starter in this league. The issue is the odds are low of that being the case in Pittsburgh, or really anywhere. Those kinds of coaches are just hard to find. 

Kenny’s ceiling is probably a Jared Goff-level starter in this league, and even then he needs the perfect system around him to achieve that.  The Steelers will never be that perfect system he needs. Exhibit A, the retention of Matt Canada. Kenny does deserve to shoulder a part of the blame for the offense's poor performance. It isn’t all Canada, but Canada isn’t absolved of his shortcomings either. It is still “JV Ball” when it comes to his schemes and play calling, whether he is on the sideline or not. 

Even if Canada is replaced, what the Steelers need is a playmaker at the QB position. Kenny simply is not that. He is a game manager, and I don’t mean that in a pejorative sense, it is just the reality of his skill level. I am not saying they need Patrick Mahomes, but the Steelers strong suit is drafting weapons on the offensive side of the ball and allowing a quarterback to make plays off-script. Kenny isn’t that kind of quarterback. Kenny does a good job not turning the ball over, he leaves a lot to be desired in every other area of playing QB. 

He has only thrown the ball more than 20 yards 20 times this year and only thrown it more than 40 yards 3 times. He falls below QBs like Baker Mayfield, Mac Jones, Jordan Love, Desmond Ridder, Gardner Minshew, and Joshua Dobbs. His yards per attempt fall well below all those quarterbacks and outside the top 20, and he is lower than Taylor Heinicke and Tyrod Taylor.  On top of all that, he has only thrown 6 touchdowns, and to add salt to the wound, he has only thrown two touchdowns since October 1st, the same amount as Anthony Richardson. He’s out for the year if you have forgotten. 

My goal here is not to celebrate Kenny’s struggles or pile on to a young man clearly struggling. I think he has a chance to grow, even if that growth will be limited, I just don’t believe Pittsburgh is the right place for him to grow. As I said, he needs far better offensive coaching, and the reality is, the coaches that would have success with Kenny, don’t come around often. The three that I mentioned earlier, are probably the only three in the NFL that could take Kenny to his full potential.

The solution? While I don’t disagree that Pittsburgh should try and draft a QB once again this year, like Jayden Daniels or Michael Penix Jr, I think the Steelers should break character, and swing for a big-name trade. Much like they did with Minkah Fitzpatrick, who changed the complexity of their defense, the Steelers need to make a splash to change the complexity of their offense.

My choice? Kyler Muray, not to bury the lead. It would appear that his time in Arizona is probably limited considering the head coach and GM were not the ones that drafted him. There is a chance that they would deal away Kyler for the right price. I don’t think the Steelers should give away the farm, but a few first-round picks would be worth having a dynamic quarterback. 

The main argument is that he would be a considerable cap hit because of the hefty contract that Arizona gave him a few years ago. However, it is time for Pittsburgh to spend that money, even if it comes at the expense of the defense. The Steelers have had the highest-paid defense the last two years and missed the playoffs both times and have ranked near the bottom of the league. It is time to pour money into the side of the ball that is consistently losing them games. 

The Steelers need a quarterback that can add more layers to their offense. Kyler can offer a mobility and pocket presence that Kenny can’t, and make plays with his leagues. He can also make plays outside the script of the offense and is willing to let the ball fly deep. All things Kenny is not willing to do. The Steelers need to take a big swing and change their situation at the QB position if they want to genuinely compete for championships.