Tim Benz: Steelers' increasingly tough schedule makes finding wins, dates to start Kenny Pickett extremely difficult

Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is on the record as saying that, “definitively,” he is not looking to replace quarterback Mitch Trubisky with rookie Kenny Pickett.

If you listen to many Steelers fans and talk shows in Pittsburgh, they “definitively” are.

However, a lot of the potentially friendly launch dates to make that move have already vanished or are no longer quite as logical.

Pickett is a 24-year-old Heisman Trophy finalist with five years of college experience under his belt. So one possible spot to start him was, well, Game 1 of his rookie year.

Why not? He had 52 ACC appearances in a Pitt uniform and a good preseason on his resume. But the Steelers decided to go with Trubisky as the starter.

So be it.

The next logical time to turn to Pickett would’ve been this week against the New York Jets. It’s a home game after a mini-bye following a Thursday night game in Cleveland. That means extra prep time for an opponent that went 4-13 last year and has started 1-2 this season.

Plus, the Jets may be turning to a relatively inexperienced starter at QB as well in second-year pro Zach Wilson. He’s coming off a knee injury that has sidelined him since the preseason, and, despite 13 starts last season, is still a year younger than Pickett.

But Tomlin put the kibosh on that conversation after Thursday’s loss in Cleveland.

“I’m not in that mindset,” Tomlin said when asked about the idea of a change at quarterback or offensive coordinator. “I’m interested in reviewing this tape and looking at the totality of it and figuring out how we collectively get better. So, to answer that question definitively, no.”

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At the start of 2022, if not against the Jets, I assumed the next most likely spot thereafter to insert Pickett would’ve been two weeks later. That would’ve shielded him from having to begin his NFL career in Buffalo against the defending AFC East champion Bills on Oct. 9 or having to face Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Oct. 16.

But now, next month’s games appear to be even more difficult to navigate for the Steelers than originally anticipated. Because after the Bills and the Bucs, the Steelers have to go to Miami to play the Dolphins on Oct. 23 and to Philadelphia to battle the Eagles on Oct. 30.

Surprisingly, the Dolphins and Eagles are the only unbeaten teams in the NFL through three weeks and have looked quite good in the process.

That gets the Steelers to the bye in Week 9 when it’s not outlandish to suggest the team will be 2-6 entering their ninth game. It will be at Acrisure Stadium the following week against the New Orleans Saints on Nov. 13.

Too pessimistic of an outlook by me? I dunno. Based on how the offense has performed the first three weeks, I wouldn’t blame anyone for calling me a cockeyed optimist for assuming they’ll beat the Jets.

Which, I’m not. I’m not assuming the Steelers are going to beat anybody.

So maybe starting Pickett sooner than that will help. Although, if they do, are they really putting their future franchise QB in the best position to win? Or are they setting him up to fail with the rest of this offense being in a dysfunctional state?

At some point, Tomlin and company are going to have to take that risk and cash in on the investment they made when they selected Pickett No. 20 overall in April. NFL teams don’t take quarterbacks that high if they can’t handle circumstances that are less than ideal.

Based on how things look, Pickett better get used to that idea too, if he’s thrust into action at any point this year.

Or even if it’s to start 2023.