Former NFL QB Chris Simms is known to have some of the “hotter” takes in the sports media landscape.
But on the latest episode of his podcast called Chris Simms Unbuttoned, the former signal caller had something to get off his chest.
So let’s see where he ranked Kenny Pickett amongst all the quarterbacks in the league, and his reasoning behind doing so.
Simms garners notoriety for his outside of the box thinking during draft evaluation season and his top 40 quarterback countdown. As he made his way through the list, Kenny Pickett ended up at 25th overall. Here’s what Simms had to say about Pickett:
“It’s Kenny Pickett at 25 huh,” said co-host of Chris Simms Unbuttoned Ahmed Fareed. “You know it,” said Simms. “It’s a perfect example of him and Purdy right?”(Simms had purdy ranked one spot below Pickett) “Again, do people really think Kenny Pickett couldn’t go to San Francisco and do some of that stuff there? Come on now, I mean come on. You know the situation in San Fran and all that and that’s why I’m here to decipher this for you. Pickett’s arm is better than Brock Purdy’s, his release is better than Brock Purdy’s, and Kenny Pickett is also a better athlete than Brock Purdy. Not to mention, Pickett is also bigger than Brock Purdy. And I would say in dropback passing offense, you know, I think it’s disputable but I might even give the edge to Kenny Pickett as far as reading the field and going through progressions quickly.”
I happen to agree with Simms here. Brock Purdy stole the heart of football fans as a seventh-rounder that came in and delivered.
If not for an injury, he very well may have led the 49ers to the Super Bowl. But pretending that he wasn’t in a ready-made, Qb friendly offense is nonsense. Simms wasn’t done yet, adding the following:
“So that’s where I don’t think Kenny Pickett quite gets the you know, maybe the credit he deserves there,” said Simms. “His arm it’s not a superstar’s arm, but it’s damn good. He can make all the throws, he definitely can. Now, does he need to improve on some of those power throws? Definitely. Does he need to be a little bit more aggressive with his mentality on some of the aggressive, down-the-field, types of plays? Yes”
And those criticisms are valid, as Simms would later point out, Pickett took over the reins from Mitch Trubisky and the offense actually threw the ball even shorter, pointing to a philosophy issue opposed to pure quarterback play.
So while Brock Purdy may have been on the opposing end of some criticism, the point is valid and speaks further to the notion that the Steelers’ scheme needs to take the next step in 2023.
If it does, expect Kenny Pickett to follow.
