WHAT WE LEARNED: NFL WEEK 4

BY ADAM GREENE

A lot happened in Week 4. Here’s what I’ve picked out to discuss.

CJ STROUD COULD HAVE AN HISTORIC ROOKIE YEAR

Now, again, I’m going to bring this up. In the pre-draft process, I made it clear that I felt that Stoud was the best prospect out of all the available quarterbacks. So, I’m going feel satisfied about that even as I admit that I thought Anthony Richardson was probably going to be a bust right out of the gate. This is the problem with quarterback evaluation. None of us really know anything.

As of right now, Stroud is easily the best guy of the three first round quarterbacks, with Richardson showing some real progress and excitement and Bryce Young, well, he’s on the Carolina Panthers and that just might be the problem. We’ll get to that.

First up, though, Stroud. He has the Houston Texans at 2-2 as a starter, he’s completed 62.3 percent of his passes for 1,212 yards, six touchdowns and, here’s the real kicker, no interceptions. This a rookie quarterback who’s played in four NFL games, one against the Pittsburgh Steelers defense, and he has not thrown a pick yet. Peyton Manning threw 28 his rookie year, to put that into perspective.

Now, there’s an interception coming. That streak’s not going to last the whole season, but Stroud’s projected numbers are 5,151 passing yards and 26 touchdown passes. I think that TD mark is probably reachable. I don’t think he’s going to hit 5,000 yards through the air, but he absolutely could realistically be in the 4,000-yard club. And if he does it with 10 or less interceptions? That would probably, statistically, be the best rookie QB season of all time.

The standard was set by Russell Wilson in 2012, who completed 64.1 percent of his passes for 3,118 yards, 26 touchdowns and 10 picks. He rushed for 489 yards and four scores. No. 2? That’s Robert Griffin II who had a 65.6 completion percentage, 20 TDs, five picks and 815 yards on the ground with seven touchdowns. It’s just a month but Stroud is obviously outpacing both those runs.

As for Anthony Richardson, the stats aren’t nearly as impressive, but he passes the eyeball test. If anything, he just needs to protect himself. Last week’s 29-23 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Rams was the first game this year Richardson has completed. He missed the Colts’ Week 3 win over the Baltimore Ravens.

As for Young, he’s in a tough spot. The Panthers, in trading up to pick him No. 1, gave up what would have been his best offensive weapon, wide receiver DJ Moore and next year’s first round pick too. That Carolina roster was not a quarterback away. And Young’s size and penchant to get dinged up has already cost him a start as well.

Carolina has issues all over. They need playmakers. They need offensive linemen and none of that’s coming this year. Getting beaten up early can ruin a young quarterback and, if anyone knows that, it’s probably Frank Reich. Don’t be surprised to see the Panthers back in the trade market, looking to pick up a potential first rounder for Brian Burns who is in the final year of his rookie contract. The desperation should be real.

Speaking of young QBs who could be ruined…

MIKE TOMLIN SHOULD HAVE ALREADY FIRED MATT CANADA

Kenny Pickett has the potential to be an above average NFL starting quarterback. Could he be a franchise QB? Maybe. I don’t get to decide that. I think those guys are born, not made, but he can definitely play in this league. What he can’t do is overcome absolutely inept offensive play design and coaching and that is exactly what he’s getting right now from offensive coordinator Matt Canada.

How bad has Canada been as offensive coordinator for the Steelers since 2021? Since he took the job, the Steelers have more first quarter drives end in turnovers than touchdowns. They are 1-15 if the opposing team scores 22 points or more. They have the worst first down offense in the NFL, averaging 4.4 yards per play. They are the second worst offense in yards and points in the first quarter. Of their 26 first half offensive drives this season, they have scored one touchdown. Total.

Oh, I’m not done.

They reach third down on 61 percent of their possessions, worst in the NFL. They go three-and-out 55 percent of the time. And, uh, yeah. That’s the worst in the league too. They’ve scored 20 points or less 24 times in his 39 games as OC. You guessed it. That’s the worst in the league.

Their EPA/play is the worst in the NFL this year. Their dropback success is second worst and their rushing success is the third worst.

They have not, even one time in 39 professional football games, reached 400 yards of total offense. No other team has fewer than four 400 yard performances.

Pittsburgh is notoriously slow to react to this kind of thing and Mike Tomlin is hardly alone in failing to pull the trigger to jettison a terrible offensive coordinator in spite of being an excellent head coach. His AFC North compatriot, John Harbaugh, employed Greg Roman for years and it took nearly losing Lamar Jackson in free agency (and to injury time and again) for Harbaugh to finally toss him into the piranha tank.

There’s no solving the problem this year, but punting Canada out of the building and letting another offensive coach on the staff take over is the answer right now. Just stop the bleeding because a bad offensive coordinator, a bad offensive scheme and team, can absolutely ruin a young quarterback.

Then, the very second the offseason begins, the Steelers need to raid the San Francisco 49ers and hire QB coach Brian Griese as their new OC. They should be DESPERATE to implement that Shanahan system for Pickett, before they David Carr this poor guy right out of the league.  

Follow Adam Greene on Twitter @TheFirstMan.

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