PHILADELPHIA − It’s not fair to say that the Steelers made a mistake in the 2020 draft when they took wide receiver Chase Claypool in the second round, four spots before the Eagles took quarterback Jalen Hurts at No. 53.
Back then, many were wondering if the Eagles had wasted a second-round pick on a backup to franchise QB Carson Wentz when the Eagles had so many other needs.
And Claypool as a rookie burned the Eagles for the game-clinching touchdown when he beat linebacker Nathan Gerry for a 35-yard TD late in the fourth quarter providing the final margin in the Steelers’ 38-29 win. Claypool had four touchdowns in the game, three receiving and one rushing.
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Hurts, meanwhile, threw his first career pass that day when he came in to run a gadget play. He completed it, for 3 yards.
Since then, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger turned 40 and retired. Rather than having a quarterback waiting in the wings to take over, the Steelers drafted Kenny Pickett last spring in the first round, 20th overall, while bringing in a veteran in Mitchell Trubisky to ease the transition.
It’s hard to find fault with that strategy, even though it hasn’t worked so far. The Steelers are off to a 2-5 start. They’re 30th in the NFL in total offense and 31st in points, averaging just 15.3 per game.
Trubisky was benched after completing just 60.9% of his passes. And Pickett has thrown 7 interceptions in three-plus games. Combined, the Steelers’ QBs have a passer rating of 73.5.
“I know every year possessed a different set of challenges, and it’s my job to kind of manage the multitude of variables in each group,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said when asked about transitioning from Roethlisberger. “So I kind of look at it that way from a totality standpoint. It’s important that we win games, and lean to our strengths, and work to minimize our weaknesses, whatever they may be.”
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It’s pretty clear that quarterback is a weakness for this season anyway.
Remember, the Eagles weren’t expecting much out of Hurts when they drafted him. But Wentz was so awful in 2020 that the Eagles had no choice but to turn to Hurts. Then Wentz made his trade demand and the Eagles became committed to Hurts.
That didn’t go smoothly, either. In Hurts’ first full season as a starter, the Eagles were 2-5 after seven games. Then the Eagles switched to a run-based offense and finished the season 7-3, making the playoffs before losing badly in the first round to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Can the Steelers have a similar turnaround?
Claypool, for one, isn’t so sure, as he told ESPN after the Steelers’ 16-10 loss last Sunday to the Dolphins, when Pickett threw an interception in the final minute near the goal line.
“How close are we?” Claypool said. “I think it’s too late in the season to be close to anything. I think if we’re close, we have to get there (against the Eagles).”
But there were questions about Hurts heading into this season. The Eagles improved the roster around him, and lo and behold, Hurts has played like an MVP candidate. It worked. The Eagles are 6-0, with the 5th-ranked offense in yards and 4th in points per game (26.8).
That didn’t happen overnight. Hurts worked diligently to improve his weaknesses. Surely, opposing defensive coordinators will try to find something new to exploit, and it will be up to Hurts to adjust again.
That, of course, is how Hurts spent his bye week.
“You definitely want to try to be a step ahead of people, but you also want to master your techniques of what you do,” Hurts said. “We get a lot of stuff thrown at us. I think in 6 games, we’ve played a lot of different types of teams, styles of defenses, and we’ve had to find ways to get things going versus these different styles, different personnel, you name it.”
Sure, the Steelers could have been farther along had they drafted Hurts two years ago. It’s just that the Steelers were focused on maximizing the final years of Roethlisberger, so Claypool made more sense.
But Tomlin liked Hurts back then.
“I just really had an appreciation for his intangible qualities, his will, his commitment to the game,” Tomlin said. “I liked his profile, the son of a football coach, the steady demeanor. He just displayed the intangible characteristics of a winner. And that’s been his resume wherever he’s been. So that was really attractive.”
3 questions with Robert Quinn
The Eagles traded for Quinn on Wednesday to bolster the defensive line. Quinn was a first-round pick of the St. Louis Rams in 2011, and he’s one of seven active players with 100 or more sacks (he has 102). Quinn had 18.5 sacks in 2021, but only 1 this season in 7 games with Chicago.
Question: What was your reaction to the trade?
Answer: Shocked. In all honesty, I’m still trying to just get a full grasp on what’s happening, the transition. Besides that, happy, new place, and like I told everyone, I want to come in and do my part. They’ve been rocking and rolling before I got here. I don’t want to mess anything up, just try to add whatever I can to help make this team better, and basically stay out of the way.
What did it mean to have Brandon Graham be the first player to welcome you?
He’s one of the leaders on this team, and he’s got a year or two over me (Graham is 34 years old, Quinn is 32). To have the OG of the team walk up to me, it makes you feel appreciated and makes you feel welcome.
Ex-Bears teammate Roquan Smith cried during his press conference after the trade; what did you think?
That’s my guy. Ro, you can say (he’s) like a little brother. I got (to Chicago in 2020), we didn’t know each other, and for whatever reason, we became pretty cool. We became pretty tight as friends. Just to see that reaction shows the love that we have, to take a teammate and turn him into a brother. You don’t get to do that too often.
Do Steelers have Eagles’ number?
The last time the Eagles were undefeated this late in the season, at 7-0 back in 2004, the Steelers buried them 27-3.
The difference is that Steelers team went 15-1 before losing in the AFC Championship game. Then again, Roethlisberger was starting as a rookie at quarterback, much like Pickett is now. So far, Pickett is not Roethlisberger.
But this stat is much more telling: The Steelers are 1-9 when star defensive lineman T.J. Watt misses games. Watt has been on injured reserve since Week 1 with a pectoral muscle injury. The Steelers opened his 21-day practice window this week, but he’s not expected to play.
Even if he does, the Steelers, ranked 28th in total defense, will have a tough time slowing the Eagles’ offense. And Pickett has yet to show that he can carry the offense.
Score: Eagles 27, Steelers 16.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
