PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Four games into his NFL career we look at Kenny Pickett’s numbers compared to fellow first-round picks Terry Bradshaw and Ben Roethlisberger at this point. There is one stat that really jumps out that probably has little to do with Pickett.
Starting with the comparison of the three after four NFL games:
Bradshaw (1970)
4 of 16 for 70 yards and an interception
13 of 26 for 211 yards and an interception
13 of 29 for 207 yards and 3 interceptions
3 of 12 for 24 yards (1st win, 23-10 over Buffalo)
First four 40% comp, 513 yards, 0 TD, 5 INT, 6.2 yds/att, 15.5 per completion
Season 38% comp, 1410 yds, 6 TD, 24 INT, 30.4 rating, 6.47 yds/att, 16.9 yds/comp, 233 yards rushing, TD—4 wins, 9 losses
Roethlisberger (2004)
12 of 20 for 176 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT---loss to Baltimore
12 of 22 for 163 yards, TD, INT---win over 4-win Miami
17 of 25 for 174 yards, TD—win over 8 win Cincinnati
16 of 21 for 231 yards, TD, INT—win over 4-win Cleveland
First four 65% comp, 744 yards, 5 TD, 4 INT, 8.4 yds/att, 15.8 per completion
Season 66%, 2621 yards 17 TD, 11 INT, 98.1 rating, 8.88 yds/att, 13 yds/comp, 144 yards rushing, TD—13 wins, no losses (as starter)
Pickett (2022)
10 of 13 for 120 yards and 3 interceptions
34 of 52 for 327 yards and an interception
11 of 18 for 67 yards and a touchdown
32 of 44 for 257 yards, a TD and 3 interceptions
First four 68% comp, 771 yards, 2 TD, 7 INT, 6.1 yds/att, 8.9 yds/comp
Takeaways
· No comparison is exactly the same-Pickett has lesser experienced offensive talent. Roethlisberger had RBs-Jerome Bettis and Duce Staley, WRs-Hines Ward, Plaxico Burress and Antwann Randle-El, OL-Hall of Famer Alan Faneca, Pro Bowlers Marvel Smith and Jeff Hartings. Bradshaw, while nowhere near the Super Bowl offense, had Hall of Honor guard Sam Davis, center Ray Mansfield and RB John Fuqua
· Yards per completion—Ben was 15.8, Terry 15.5 and Kenny is just 8.9 after four games.
· Pickett has the most interceptions and is in a more conservative offense than Bradshaw and to a lesser extent Roethlisberger
· Roethlisberger started 3-1-including the relief effort (doesn’t count against his actual record), the first three teams he beat combined for 16 wins that year. Bradshaw was 1-3.
· In the next four games Roethlisberger was 4-0 with 6 TD to 2 INT, 72% completion
The striking stat is the yards per completion. In this offense Pickett isn’t being allowed to consistently, or barely ever, go vertically (confirmed by receiver Chase Claypool after Sunday’s game). The success came quickly for Roethlisberger, yet he also had better talent around him. It took Bradshaw five years until he threw for more touchdowns than interceptions, yet success then became four Super Bowl championships.
It’s four games, there is much more experience to be gained by the entire 2022 offense (offensive line averages 24 years-old, leading WR in yards per catch is 21 years-old). There are likely future additions, possibly a coordinator change.
Pickett has thrown touchdowns in two straight games and appears to have intangibles to be successful. What will the stats show when Pickett is done?