The Pittsburgh Steelers made Kenny Pickett the first quarterback taken in the 2022 NFL Draft. As it turns out, the Steelers were also interested in the quarterback who was the final signal caller taken last year.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac reported on February 3 that the Steelers “really liked” Brock Purdy.
“Their coaches were impressed when they interviewed Purdy at the scouting combine and saw how he could go back and re-diagram a play they gave him minutes earlier,” Dulac wrote. “They actually thought Purdy might even go earlier in the draft, like the fourth or fifth round.”
Purdy remained on the board, though, until the seventh round. He was not only the last quarterback taken but he became Mr. Irrelevant, which is the nickname given to the final player selected in the draft.
The San Francisco 49ers drafted Purdy at No. 262 overall.
Steelers Drafted QB Chris Oladokun Instead of Purdy
It may be fun to thing about the possibility of the Steelers having both Pickett and Purdy on their roster. In actuality, that possibility was very much a reality.
It’s not like the Steelers weren’t still interested in drafting a quarterback even after selecting Pickett. In the seventh round, 21 selections before Purdy went to the 49ers, the Steelers drafted South Dakota State’s Chris Oladokun.
However, not only did Oladokun not make the Pittsburgh roster out of training camp, the Steelers didn’t find it worthwhile giving him a snap during a preseason game.
Of course, with Pickett, Mitch Trubisky and Mason Rudolph, the Steelers didn’t really have enough snaps for a fourth signal caller. Some Steelers insiders such as The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly have argued the team didn’t do a good enough job giving Rudolph a fair chance to compete during training camp let alone Oladokun.
But the fact remains, one year later, drafting Oladokun instead of Purdy appears to be a major error. Although at least it was a mistake the Steelers can share with other teams.
“The Miami Dolphins also passed on Purdy when they used their seventh-round pick (247th overall) on quarterback Skylar Thompson,” Dulac wrote. “But, like Purdy, injuries forced Thompson to start four games for the Dolphins, including a playoff loss to the Bills.”
Purdy’s Opportunity Came With the 49ers
With Oladokun’s lack of reps during Steelers training camp, it’s also worth wondering if Purdy would have also been buried on Pittsburgh’s depth chart and eventually cut.
Perhaps the presence of Purdy would have encouraged the Steelers to try harder to trade Mason Rudolph last summer. Still, even if he made Pittsburgh’s roster out of training camp, Purdy doesn’t have the same rookie season with the Steelers as he did with the 49ers.
In San Francisco, Purdy became the team’s starter in Week 14 because of major injuries to Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo. With the opportunity, Purdy went 5-0 in the final month of the regular season and then won two playoff games.
Purdy’s cinderella story came to an end with an injury to a ligament in his throwing elbow during the NFC Championship Game. That, along with the predicted return of Lance, makes his starting future with the 49ers murky.
But given his finish to the season, if healthy, Purdy should be one of the top two quarterbacks on San Francisco’s depth chart next season.
Sure, having Purdy as a potential backup for Pickett instead of Trubisky would save the Steelers salary cap space in 2023. But again, without a chance to play in 2022 like he did in San Francisco, Purdy would still be an unproven commodity had the Steelers drafted him.
Therefore, it seems unlikely that in the alternate universe Dulac described on February 3 that the Steelers would actually have Pickett and Purdy on the top of their quarterback depth chart for 2023.
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Steelers ‘Really Liked’ Rookie QB Other than Kenny Pickett in 2022 Draft: Report