The Pittsburgh Steelers made the decision to part ways with quarterback Kenny Pickett. The Eagles made the decision to relocate him.
The decision made by Philadelphia to take the first-round pick in 2022 is almost as startling as the one made by Pittsburgh to switch from Pickett (and Mason Rudolph and Mitch Trubisky) to Russell Wilson. The fact that his skill set does not align perfectly with the ability of the starting quarterback, Jalen Hurts, makes the transition from quarterback 1 to quarterback 2 less jarring for the rest of the offense.
First and foremost, Hurts is substantially more active in running the ball than Pickett is. Hurts has 157 tries to rush for a total of 650 yards in the year 2023.
This results in 9.23 rushes per game and 38.2 yards per game for the team. On the other hand, Pickett ran the ball 42 times for 54 yards in 12 games during the previous season, which equates to 3.5 attempts per game and 4.5 yards per game.
More runs were made by Pickett at Pitt, but not by much. During his final season with the Panthers, he completed 97 passes for a total of 241 yards passed. The fact that he has just spent two years in the National Football League makes it abundantly clear that he does not possess the burst necessary to rush past NFL-quality defenders.
The question that needs to be answered is whether or if the new offensive coordinator in Philadelphia, Kellen Moore, will cut down on the amount of running that the quarterbacks do. Despite the fact that it is difficult to picture the Eagles giving up the Brotherly Shove/Tush Push
since they are so good at it, it is reasonable to wonder whether the move to trade for Pickett means that the Eagles will be deploying Hurts in a manner that involves less rushing.
In spite of the fact that it was never made public, Hurts had a knee ailment that plagued him during a significant portion of the 2023 season. There is a possibility that the team will make a strategic move in 2024 to better protect the quarterback. This is especially true given the fact that they now have running back Saquon Barkley who can take hits and administer hits while the quarterback is controlling the ball.
When the new season begins, we will find out whether or if the offense of the Eagles has changed significantly by that point. From this point forward, the substitution of Kenny Pickett for Marcus Mariota as the backup quarterback for Jalen Hurts may provide a glimpse into the manner in which the Philadelphia Eagles offense will approach defenses in a year that holds increased stakes for head coach Nick Sirianni.
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