There was a great hue and cry all across the nation when Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett, who’s going to be a first-round pick in the 2022 NFL draft, bent the good nature of Wake Forest’s defense last Saturday in the ACC Championship game. Pickett threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score in the Panthers’ 45-21 win, but all anybody wanted to talk about was the fake slide Pickett executed early in the first quarter, which led to his 58-yard touchdown scamper.
The NCAA reacted quickly, as it should have.
More about it here: https://t.co/XX8Kk4FloB pic.twitter.com/fMNoeHFari
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) December 9, 2021
It was a smart but ultimately bogus move by Pickett — he exploited the absence of the rule against a fake slide, and in doing so, also exploited the hesitancy of defenders at any level, trying to avoid any unnecessary roughness calls when interacting physically with a quarterback. If the quarterback looks like he’s giving himself up, the defender is bound by rule to respect that and hold up, so for Pickett or any other quarterback to stick his nose in that circumstance? As I said, smart, but ultimately bogus.
And, as NBC rules analyst and former NFL official Terry McAulay pointed out on multiple occasions over the last week, there is a rule ready for Pickett (or any other quarterback) trying this stuff at the NFL level.
The defense knows he is protected once he begins a slide, so he smartly let up. That may not happen next time which puts the ball carrier’s safety in jeopardy if he does slide. (2/2)
— Terry McAulay (@SNFRules) December 5, 2021
As expected, a fake slide will cause the ball to become dead effective immediately. It is not reviewable. https://t.co/T6xTB1R2Zf pic.twitter.com/iOdx984OZo
— Terry McAulay (@SNFRules) December 9, 2021
So, if Pickett wants to give this a go at the next level, it’s possible that he’ll run afoul of the NFL Rulebook. That’s if the officiating crew on that particular day decides to implement the rule as written, which has been quite the crapshoot this season.
There is also the truism that any quarterback trying that stuff at the NFL level will most likely find himself in a highly unpleasant situation the next time he runs out of the pocket, and is not protected as a quarterback in the pocket would be.
NFL defenders have the tendency to take things into their own hands at times. And Pickett has one more college game to go — the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl against Michigan State on December 30, so he’d best keep the fake slide out of his quiver in that game, as well.