Now that training camp is over with the Pittsburgh Steelers back in Pittsburgh and gearing up for what they hope will be a much more productive season, it’s time to take stock of where the team stands. Specifically, where Steelers players stand individually based on what we have seen and are seeing over the course of training camp and the preseason and the regular season as it plays out. A stock evaluation can take a couple of different approaches and I’ll try to make clear my reasoning for each one. In some cases, it will be based on more long-term trends. In other instances, it will be a direct response to something that just happened. Because of this, we can and will see a player more than once over the course of the season as we move forward.
Player: QB Kenny Pickett
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: The rookie quarterback was officially cleared to return to play in preparation for Sunday Night Football after suffering a concussion in the Steelers’ Week 6 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He will retake his place in the starting lineup without missing any time.
Concussions should always be taken seriously under any circumstances. But it’s also important to remember that every concussion is different, and cannot be judged relative to others. Some have raised questions about the concussion timeline for Steelers rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett and indeed have been skeptical over whether or not he even suffered a concussion.
Well, the team announced during the game that he was being ruled out with a concussion, not simply as part of the concussion protocol. There is no reason to believe that he did not have a concussion. The fact that he hasn’t spoken to the media—players in the concussion protocol are not allowed to—is another indication, coupled with the fact that he hadn’t been cleared up to now in spite of the fact that he practiced all week on a full-time basis.
That’s all in the past at this point, at least as far as us outside spectators are concerned. We’re just waiting to see him on the field again. And also silently, or perhaps vocally, wondering how sharp he’s going to look back on the field after the concussion.
The good news is that we won’t have to wait long to find out, as he will be back out on the field leading the offense against the Miami Dolphins for Sunday Night Football. He threw his first touchdown pass last week before he was knocked out of the game. Can he put up over 20 points this week? It would be a first for the offense this season.
