The first good reason for keeping Matt Canada in 2023 has finally been made
It seems like nearly every Pittsburgh Steelers fan wants to see the team move on from offensive coordinator Matt Canada. And for a good reason. Under Canada, the Steelers had the No. 26 scoring offense in the NFL in 2022. Not great. But over the last half of the season, the Steelers played much better. […]
It seems like nearly every Pittsburgh Steelers fan wants to see the team move on from offensive coordinator Matt Canada.
And for a good reason.
Under Canada, the Steelers had the No. 26 scoring offense in the NFL in 2022.
Not great.
But over the last half of the season, the Steelers played much better. They still struggled at times to score points, but they went 7-2 with rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett starting eight of those games.
Pittsburgh's strong finish combined with recent comments from Najee Harris and Ben Roethlisberger makes it feel like Canada is sticking around for one more season.
And maybe that's not such a bad idea.
Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio appeared on 93.7 The Fan this week and gave a great reason why Pittsburgh should keep Canada.
Florio thinks moving this quickly to a new offensive coordinator could hurt the development of Pickett.
"Why disrupt it, if it’s starting to work with Kenny Pickett, why bring in a new personality," said Florio. "A new coach with a new offense, why do you want to put Kenny Pickett through that?”
"If you’re all in with Kenny Pickett, as I think you are and believe that he’s got the potential to be great as I think you do, you hamper him if you get rid of Matt Canada and hire a new offensive coordinator at this point.”
Florio has a point. As much as I think there are better options for the Steelers than Canada, the last thing Pickett needs is to enter his first "normal" offseason learning a new offense. It would almost be like he's a rookie all over again.
While it will be painful to see Canada on the sidelines again in 2023, it might be the best thing for Pickett's development.
The Steelers almost made the playoffs in spite of Canada this season. There's no reason they shouldn't earn a playoff berth in 2023 with a full season of Pickett — even if Canada is calling plays again.
Featured image via Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
