Pittsburgh Steelers rookie QB Kenny Pickett was touted as the most “pro-ready” QB in the 2022 draft class. The rest of the NFL believed the same thing as Pickett was the only QB drafted in the first two rounds. Even though he was deemed more pro-ready than his peers, he still had to start the season on the bench behind Mitch Trubisky until he got his opportunity against the New York Jets in Week 4.
It has been a rocky start to Pickett’s career as he only has three touchdown passes in eight games played compared to eight interceptions. There have been plenty of moments where he has made the wrong decision in key moments of the game that have led to stalled drives or turnovers that have sealed the game for Pittsburgh. However, Pickett has gradually shown signs of development over his rookie campaign, appearing to have a better grasp of the offense while making several plays in Pittsburgh’s last two games against the Bengals and Colts to suggest that the Steelers may indeed have their QB of the future.
When asked about his growth over the course of his rookie season Wednesday, Pickett responded that it has come with more experience and a greater understanding of the offensive system and how to use every weapon on offense to drive the field and put points on the board.
“It’s command of the offense and using every guy at my disposal throughout progressions and every guy knowing they can get the football on any given play,” Pickett said regarding his growth via Dale Lolley on the team’s website. “I think that’s huge. We’re continuing to build that. I’m going to continue to grow in the system. Once you get a mastery of it, you use all of your options.”
Pickett took on the role of a card dealer Monday night against the Colts, completing passes to ten different pass catchers. George Pickens, Diontae Johnson, and Pat Freiermuth were the leading receivers as expected, but Pickett also managed to complete a pass to Benn Snell Jr., Cody White, Derek Watt, and Zack Gentry. Despite only throwing for 174 yards on the game, Pickett managed to get nearly everyone involved in what ended up being a team effort for Pittsburgh to secure their fourth win of the season.
While we would like to see Pickett eventually throw for 300+ yards and regularly get his top receivers the ball on a weekly basis, However, style points don’t matter in the National Football League. If your team is winning, then the extra stats are just an icing on the cake. In the case of Pickett, we are starting to see a rookie QB grow. From coming close in the final moments of the game but just falling short to seize the moment, Pickett showed us Monday in Indianapolis that he can drive his team down the field in the fourth quarter and cap it off by getting his team into the end zone. The growth has been slow and steady, but it has been occurring, nonetheless.
