Michael Pittman Jr. never lived up to the elite wide receiver the Indianapolis Colts envisioned for him when they drafted him in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft. Pittman did turn into a fairly good player, just not a great one, and so it made sense when the Colts decided to move on from him and pay Alec Pierce instead earlier this offseason.
Now with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Pittman joins DK Metcalf, who is seeking a bounce-back year after a sluggishly underperforming first season after being traded to the Steelers by the Seattle Seahawks. Metcalf is looking to regain his Seahawks form; Pittman is ready for his fresh start in a new uniform.
The Steelers had a similar quarterback situation under their roof up until a few days ago. For the Colts, Daniel Jones' availability to start the season is in question. For the Steelers, they weren't even sure which quarterback would start the season.
Now that Aaron Rodgers is back, however, Pittsburgh's questions are answered. As for Pittman, Rodgers' return adds a familiar feeling he experienced not long ago.Â
Playing with Aaron Rodgers gives Michael Pittman Jr. a familiar Indianapolis Colts feeling
During his six seasons with the Colts, Pittman caught balls from a handful of quarterbacks, and a few of them were long-time veterans playing in the final days of their football careers, because, strangely enough, that's the route the Colts have gone in recent years. In all, Pittman had a total of nine different quarterbacks in six years.Â
Of these veteran quarterbacks, Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco were among them, but one other quarterback with whom Pittman actually began his NFL career catching balls from was the same one that tossed him his final passes in a Colts jersey, and that quarterback was Philip Rivers.Â
Rivers was in Indianapolis when Pittman was drafted, and he was there for Pittman's last game (which was also Rivers' last game, again). Now that he's playing with Rodgers, it continues a trend Pittman has seen for the past several years, but it's not a negative thing, according to him. In fact, he sees the move from Rivers to Rodgers as something unique and quite familiar.Â
"Even on the first day, he made a couple of great throws, and I was like, 'Wow, I'm really playing with Aaron," Pittman said after being asked what it's like catching throws from Rodgers. "So, it's great. I get to play with another Hall of Fame quarterback, because I got to play with Phillip Rivers. So, this is my second. It's great."
His experience playing veteran quarterbacks might actually work in Pittman's favor. At the same time, playing with Rodgers could be a whole other thing, because who knows what type of quarterback play the Steelers will get out of Rodgers, and whether Pittman can stay in his good graces. Rodgers has a history of shutting out his wide receivers when they make mistakes.Â
That being said, it's not Pittman's comments about Rodgers that grabbed the attention, but what he said about Rivers. Rodgers is without question a future first-ballot Hall of Fame player, but is Rivers a Hall of Fame player at all, never mind a first-ballot one? Rivers' Hall of Fame case is similar to Eli Manning's; there's a lot going against their cases, but there's also a lot going for them.Â
Nothing is going against Rodgers’ case, but Pittman still compared him with Rivers. Perhaps Rivers will get in one day, and the pros and cons are for another discussion.
It was an interesting remark from Pittman, nonetheless, because no one would put Rivers in the same conversation as Rodgers, no one. That said, if the familiarity going from one veteran quarterback to another gives Pittman comfort and confidence, then who's to argue with him?
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