Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett only has one career NFL start under his belt, but he’s already getting praise for his leadership. Undrafted free agent rookie running back Jaylen Warren talked about what Pickett is like in the huddle today.
“He’s been a great leader. He makes it clear what he wants, the play, he’ll be in the huddle being very transparent of what he wants each person to do. As a person in that huddle, you look at that and can respect that and it makes you want to do your job two times harder. So he gets a lot of respect for his leadership,” Warren said via Steelers Live on Twitter.
Pickett has talked about what he wants in a huddle, while wide receiver Diontae Johnson also gave Pickett a shout-out for taking charge of the huddle way back in the preseason. For a rookie to come in and command respect the way Pickett has is impressive, and it bodes well for his future as a leader.
Leadership isn’t a quantifiable measure, but it’s one of the most important traits for a quarterback to have. A quarterback who can’t rally his team and make guys want to go out and fight and play hard isn’t an NFL-level quarterback. Still, it can sometimes take guys a little bit of time to know how to motivate the team and how the rest of the team responds. It seems though as if Pickett has it figured out. With multiple guys involved with the offense applauding the way he takes off the huddle, it’s clear he has their respect and is clearly communicating what he needs to do in the huddle.
Pickett’s leadership ability is going to serve him well through what’s going to inevitably be a tough season for the Steelers. With Tampa Bay, Miami, and Philadelphia due up in the next three weeks, Pittsburgh is starting down the very real possibility of heading into the bye at 1-7. It’s going to be tough to keep guys motivated and playing hard if the season goes down the drain, but from what his teammates have said, it seems as if Pickett is capable of doing so.
Ideally, the season doesn’t get to that point, but between how banged up Pittsburgh is right now and their general lack of talent and offensive creativity, it’s hard to envision this being a year where the Steelers make the playoffs. It’s going to be an uphill battle to finish around .500, at this point. If nothing else, at least Pickett is getting valuable experience as a starter and more of a chance to hone his leadership skills.
