Tim Benz: Omar Khan already has 1 different approach than Kevin Colbert

In the 21 months since Omar Khan took over for Kevin Colbert as the Pittsburgh Steelers general manager, we have spent a lot of time trying to figure out ways the two men might be different.

Khan may be a little more aggressive in free agency and moving up the draft board than his long-time mentor was. Then again, Colbert started to get a little more aggressive late in his career, too.

Plus, like Khan, Colbert swung some splashy draft day moves as well by trading up for Troy Polamalu and Devin Bush.

There’s one glaring example of how Khan is very similar to his predecessor, though. Just like Colbert, he gives next to nothing in terms of tidbits to the media.

In fact, Khan may give even less. At least the vast nothingness Colbert always advanced was in longer soundbites.

So when Khan spoke to reporters in Indianapolis at the NFL Scouting Combine, you weren’t really expecting any revelations, were you?

If you were, you didn’t get any, especially in regard to the quarterback position.

Pretty much everything Khan said was in 100% lockstep with the offseason messaging of the franchise, as previously stated by owner Art Rooney II, head coach Mike Tomlin and new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith.

If you missed those talking points, they are as follows:

• The team has total belief that Kenny Pickett will rediscover the flashes he showed at the end of his rookie season and last summer that made Pittsburgh so optimistic that he could prove worthy of being a top-20 pick in the 2022 draft.

“I have full faith in Kenny. He’s shown us some good things,” Khan said via TribLive’s Joe Rutter at the combine in Indianapolis.

“Arthur is optimistic about Kenny.”

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• That said, the franchise pledges Pickett will have some sort of competition for the starting job, even though it is decidedly noncommittal about how to acquire that competition — as in, via the draft, a trade, or free agency.

“I’m not going to go into details about conversations we’ve had, but I can tell you I have an obligation to look at every avenue that is out there to make us a better football team,” Khan said.

“We’ll have some strong competition there.”

• The organization is interested in Mason Rudolph returning at quarterback. But it isn’t dissuading him from testing the free-agent market.

“I think every player owes it to himself,” Khan said. “We would like to have him back, and I believe he wants to come back and compete. He likes it here, and we’ve had a good experience with Mason.”

All that tracks, doesn’t it? Pretty much all the talking points were hit. Maybe better said, all the talking points were talked around.

However, there’s one thing Khan said about the quarterback situation that stuck out to me.

“Obviously, there were some issues with the offense, and I’m excited about the impact Arthur is going to have on (Pickett),” Khan said at one point.

Of anyone in a position of power within the franchise, that may be the first time we’ve heard the “let’s see if Kenny is better without Matt Canada” angle.

It’s a potentially sound premise. Indeed, Pickett had limited time to show his worth after Canada was fired following a Week 11 loss in Cleveland. Pickett won the next game in Cincinnati 16-14, then got hurt early in Week 13 against the Arizona Cardinals. He never saw the field again.

While Mitch Trubisky couldn’t make the post-Canada offense work much better in two-and-a-half games, Rudolph came right in and won the season’s last three games to make the playoffs.

I’m still dubious of any theory that suggests the Steelers would’ve gone the necessary 3-0 under Pickett to make the postseason that Rudolph willed into existence. I’m not willing to couch Rudolph’s accomplishments like that. He earned full praise for what he did, posting a 74% completion percentage and a 120 passer rating.

However, I am willing to concede that, against those poor defenses from Cincinnati and Seattle that Rudolph cooked (plus Baltimore’s backups in Week 18), Pickett did miss an opportunity to look better without Canada in the mix.

That’s fair. And if the Blue-and-Gold-wearing, Golden-Panther-Pickett fanboys on social media are allowed to talk themselves into that narrative, why can’t the general manager of the team?

“It was all Canada’s fault, and let’s see if Smith can fix it!” That logic is quite a Hail Mary that Khan is throwing. Unlike the quarterback in question, I just hope Khan’s hands are big enough to throw it.

OK. That was a cheap jab. Unnecessary. I’m sorry.

I’m sure Smith will work wonders with Pickett. After all, he did exactly that with Desmond Ridd—

Again, sorry. I can’t help myself. But you have to take the shots when they are right there in front of you.

Something Rudolph proved willing to do and something Pickett was reluctant to do all season long.

Smith better teach Pickett how to do that if we want to prove the “Blame Canada” theory accurate.

If not, for the 2024 team’s sake, this competition we keep hearing about — whether it’s from Rudolph or some other “avenue” that Khan mentioned — better be legit.