Here’s the way I see it: I don’t think he was overrated in college because most people accepted him for what he was. He was an above-average QB from 2018-20 and took a huge leap in his RS SR season. I think he was accurately assessed as the third best QB in CFB in 2021 behind Stroud and Young.Having not watched a lot of Pitt games to assess Pickett, is it possible he was overrated in college? Having watched the Steelers, he looked overmatched talent-wise.
With that being said, his draft class was extremely weak which was why he was a first round pick. I still think most people knew his limitations as a QB (was likely going to be a game manager, i.e. Alex Smith), but you had a Day 2 Draft talent being asked to replicate the success a first ballot HOFer had. In hindsight, it was asking for too much.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up having a similar trajectory as his college career and gets another opportunity to start in the NFL. However, that long of a development just didn’t align with what we (Steelers) needed as a win-now team. I agree that it definitely felt like he was overmatched at times, particularly in his second season.