Terry Bradshaw staunchly defends Kenny Pickett, changes tune on Arthur Smith

While appearing on “The Rich Eisen Show” on Thursday, former Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw offered up an impassioned defense of Kenny Pickett as the franchise’s starter at the position.

“I love Pickett,” Bradshaw said. “I know him well. He’s fiercely competitive. He’s a tough-minded kid. Things don’t bother him. I really like him a lot.”

It sounded like Bradshaw was giving a speech about Pickett that he wished more folks in Pittsburgh would’ve given about him when he was struggling to find his way as a young signal caller in the early 1970s.

“He’s fine. That’s their guy,” Bradshaw said. “There’s probably going to be a lot of negative about him, but that’s the guy I would go with.”

The Hall of Famer also rebuked conversations about the organization potentially trading for Bears quarterback Justin Fields.

“They’re going to beat (Pickett) up, and they’re going to want to trade for Fields in Chicago,” Bradshaw said. “I say that’s a huge mistake. You don’t need Fields. Stay with what you’ve got. Just build him up. Get him another receiver. Get him an explosive tight end. Give him another tackle, another guard. Have the ability to protect him.”

Well, I think the Steelers are fine at guard with Isaac Seumalo and James Daniels. A center and another receiver? Sure. But another tight end? Shouldn’t Pickett just use the middle of the field more often and highlight the quality tight end he already has in Pat Freiermuth?

But I digress. I didn’t mean to interrupt the four-time Super Bowl champion.

“Why is (Brock) Purdy successful with the 49ers?” Bradshaw asked. “Look at all that talent and look at that coach calling plays. That kid has got the poise and Kenny has the poise. I just want my quarterback to be poised. If he’s poised, his brain is going to be calm. He’s going to see the coverages. He’s going to be quick with his decision-making, and Pickett has all of that.”

OK, a few things off those comments.

First of all, asking the Steelers to build the same kind of offense around Pickett that they have done for Purdy in San Francisco in one offseason’s time is a mammoth task — especially with the cap costs the Steelers have sunk into the defense.

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And let’s keep in mind that the Steelers have to make a decision on Pickett’s fifth-year option for 2026 at the end of this season. They can’t afford the luxury of time to build “Niners East” before making a call on whether or not Pickett is capable of becoming Purdy 2.0.

That’s a rather ironic bar to set, by the way — given that Pickett was drafted 20th in 2022 and Purdy was the last player selected.

Meanwhile, regarding Bradshaw’s point about poise and decision-making, the poise and mental acuity we saw from Pickett running two-minute drills and winning tight games late in 2022 eroded before his injury in 2023.

Pickett showed very little pocket presence, frequently bailing from the pocket and into the rush before plays developed. And it was clear over the last four games that Mason Rudolph had a much better feel for diagnosing coverages, standing in the pocket and making throws downfield in the face of an oncoming rush than Pickett did.

Bradshaw also pulled an abrupt 180 regarding his opinion on new Steelers coordinator Arthur Smith. During the interview with Eisen, Bradshaw was quick to point out that he felt Smith was “one win away” from keeping his head coach job in Atlanta. It sounded like Bradshaw was suggesting Smith is destined to be a good fit for Pickett as OC and even referred to him as a “good dude” and a “good guy.”

That’s a far cry from the hatchet job he performed on Smith toward the end of last season after Smith benched Ridder.

“I have no respect for Arthur Smith,” Bradshaw said during “Fox NFL Sunday” on Dec. 24. “(He) messed with that young quarterback Desmond Ridder like that, and you set him back. Play the young man. Leave him alone. Don’t lie to him. And (Smith) lied to him. He needs to get his butt whooped! Nothing upsets me more than when someone lies to me.”

Bradshaw sure seems to have shelved that opinion on Smith now, though.

But, sure, lying to people stinks. I just hope Bradshaw isn’t lying to himself about how good he thinks Pickett can really be.

More importantly, I hope Smith and Mike Tomlin avoid doing exactly the same thing to themselves at training camp.

Listen: Tim Benz and Chirs Adamski discuss the Steelers quarterback situation