There have also been fans begging for the Steelers to make a
trade for Green Bay Packer superstar Aaron Rodgers or Houston Texans’ Deshaun
Watson in the upcoming offseason. Plus, in addition to current NFLers, there are several young and talented
quarterbacks entering the 2022 NFL draft.
One of them being Pitt Panther Kenny Pickett, who is currently one of
the nation’s top Heisman candidates.
However, one guy I would be interested in the Steelers making a play for has not garnered any speculation from what I have seen. This quarterback has Super Bowl experience, is only 30 years old, and would have a much smaller impact on the 2022 salary cap than Watson or Rodgers. Sounds too good to be true, right? The guy I’m speaking of is San Francisco 49er, Jimmy Garoppolo.
Perfect Fit
The main reason I like Garoppolo is the way he fits into this
Pittsburgh Steeler team as it is currently built. When Garoppolo brought the 49ers to the Super
Bowl at the end of the 2019-2020 season, he had a similar team around him as
the Steelers have now. They had a
run-heavy offense that depended on their defense to get the job done. Not much was expected from the quarterback except
taking care of the ball.
This is exactly how the current Steeler roster is set
up. They are always depending on their
defense to pull out wins, have an emerging superstar running back in Najee
Harris, and the quarterbacks have not been expected to throw the ball much more
than ten yards down the field. While the
NFL continues to lean in the direction of passing downfield, the Steelers do
not. I believe that their 50 pass
attempts on Sunday from Mason Rudolph was more of a petty move by head coach
Mike Tomlin to try one last to prove that Rudolph was the correct draft pick at
the time. Hopefully he has learned his
lesson and the Steelers become even more run heavy.
Additionally, I do not think that Garoppolo gets enough
credit as an above average quarterback.
While he has many less attempts than either Rodgers or Roethlisberger,
Garoppolo’s career completion percentage is actually better than both of the
future Hall of Famers. While I will
admit completion percentage is not a good stat to solely rely upon while
grading quarterbacks, it is a good one to look at when you’re just looking for
a game manager. He also does not turn
the ball over very often, having just 13 interceptions in 16 games in 2019, and
only five interceptions in eight games started this season.
Should Come Cheap(er)
Another reason I like the idea of pursuing Garoppolo is the 49ers should be looking to move him anyway. They used the 3rd overall pick in the 2021 draft to select North Dakota State quarterback, Trey Lance. Lance has gotten in games this season, but injuries and the presence of Garoppolo has taken away from his playing time. With the 49ers using their highest pick on a quarterback since Alex Smith in 2005 to select Lance, they are not giving up on him any time soon. Therefore, I think Garoppolo comes much cheaper in a trade than Rodgers or Watson.
Watson also is in the midst of a sex offending scandal that I don’t want to dive into. There are many resources if you want more information on that.
Shallow Draft Pool
The final reason I want the Steelers to pursue Garoppolo is the
weaker pool of quarterback options in this year’s upcoming draft. While I am as big of a Kenny Pickett fan as
anyone, I do not think he will fall to the Steelers. I’m also still unsure why it took him so long
to emerge as a superstar. The Pitt
offensive line is also playing much better this season than the Steelers’
offensive line so I’d be curious to see how Pickett performs under NFL-style
pressure.
Matt Corral from Ole Miss is currently rated as a top
quarterback as well, but the buzz around either of these guys is not even close
to that of 2021’s top picks Trevor Lawrence, Trey Lance, and Justin Fields. So I think if the Steelers want to draft a QB
in the first round they should wait until the player pool is deeper. Spending a first round pick on a quarterback
that does not work out can set a franchise back several years (i.e. the Chicago
Bears with Mitch Trubisky or the New York Jets with Sam Darnold).
Jimmy G for 2022
For these reasons, I’d like to throw Garoppolo's name into the 2022 Pittsburgh Steeler quarterback conversation.
I think Jimmy G is a great fit in Pittsburgh and has enough
talent to manage a run heavy offense and depend on the defense for wins. I also think that anyone who was evaluated
and selected by Bill Belichick always deserves a chance. Garoppolo is my pick for the 2022 Pittsburgh
Steelers’ starting quarterback.