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90 In 30: Steelers 2022 Training Camp Preview Series: Kenny Pickett, James Pierre, Carlins Platel

By Dave Bryan

Posted on July 1, 2022 at 11:30 am

The Pittsburgh Steelers 2022 offseason practices concluded last week, and next up for the team is their annual training camp, which should get underway in the latter part of July at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe. Ahead of Steelers’ training camp getting underway, we will preview the team’s offseason roster three players at a time for you as part of a 30-post series. This Steelers’ roster preview, which includes outlooks for each player, will be done alphabetically by last name to make it easy to follow along with.

The next three players we will preview ahead of Steelers training camp are Kenny Pickett, James Pierre, and Carlins Platel.

QB Kenny Pickett: The Steelers selected Pickett in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft out of Pittsburgh after closely monitoring several quarterbacks throughout the pre-draft process. In his five college seasons at Pittsburgh, Pickett completed 1,045 of his 1,674 total pass attempts for 12,303 yards with 81 touchdowns and 32 interceptions. He also rushed 416 times for another 809 yards and 20 touchdowns during his five college seasons. His final season at Pittsburgh was his best and the young quarterback made positive strides nearly every season. He entered the 2022 NFL Draft deemed the most NFL-ready quarterback in the class. He was the first quarterback selected in the 2022 NFL Draft at 20th overall and the only quarterback to be drafted in the first round.

Outlook: The Steelers obviously drafted Pickett in hopes that he can become the team’s new franchise quarterback. So far this offseason, Pickett seems to be the team’s third-string quarterback behind veterans Mitch Trubisky and Mason Rudolph. It will be interesting to see if he can at least get himself to the second-string job by the time Week 1 rolls around. If the Steelers don’t trade Rudolph prior to Week 1, there’s a decent chance that Pickett starts the 2022 regular season as a gameday inactive. Should the Steelers 2022 season go south past their bye week, Pickett will have a good shot at ultimately taking over as the team’s starter at some point. In summation, it could go several different ways for Pickett in 2022 on the heels of it looking more and more like he won’t be the Week 1 starter. The expectations are that he will play some during his rookie season, however.

CB James Pierre: The Steelers had Pierre on their 53-man roster all throughout the 2021 season and the former undrafted free agent out of Florida Atlantic ended up playing in all 17 regular season games on his way to logging 414 total defensive snaps and 244 more on special teams. He did not play in the team’s lone playoff game, however. For the season, Pierre, who made four starts in 2021, recorded 47 total tackles, one interception and four passes defensed in addition to forcing three fumbles. 10 of his tackles and two of his forced fumbles came on special teams. Pierre was beat a deep a few times during the 2021 season and in total, he allowed 29 receptions for 430 yards and four touchdowns on 45 total targets. Pierre’s overall play ultimately led to him falling out of favor and he failed to log any defensive snaps from Week 14 and on.

Outlook: Pierre’s defensive playing time experience will hopefully help him in 2022. His play on special teams, on the other hand, should be enough for him to secure a spot on the team’s 53-man roster as a backup cornerback. The Steelers re-signed cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon during the offseason in addition to signing free agent cornerback Levi Wallace. Those two, along with veteran cornerback Cameron Sutton, should all start the 2022 regular season ahead of Pierre on the team’s depth chart. Injuries at the cornerback position in 2022 would likely result in Pierre seeing some defensive playing time. In closing, Pierre might be hard-pressed to see the field on the defensive side of football as much as he did in 2021. Most of his 2022 playing time should come on special teams.

DB Carlins Platel: The Steelers signed Platel as an undrafted free agent out of South Carolina following him trying out during the team’s rookie minicamp this year. Platel transferred to South Carolina ahead of last year after previously playing three seasons at Assumption College, a Division II school, where he was named an all-conference cornerback. In college, Platel played both in the slot and outside and mostly in the nickel. He made 21 total tackles, forced two fumbles, recorded two pass breakups, and had one sack in 2021. At his pro day, Platel measured in at 5117, 194-pounds.

Outlook: Platel has position versatility but lacks overall athleticism. He will begin training camp buried on the Steelers depth chart. It will be interesting to see if Platel works extensively in the slot during training camp as that seems to be his best fit. It will definitely be an uphill battle for Platel to last on the offseason roster throughout the summer cutdown dates. Because of that, his best shot of sticking around past the preseason would be as a member of the team’s practice squad. That would be quite an accomplishment for him.

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