QB Kenny Pickett has won the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Joe Greene Award for the team’s top rookie. The Steelers announced the news moments ago.
Though it was a battle throughout the year, Pickett pulled away in the end, edging out other worthy rookies in WR George Pickens and RB Jaylen Warren. Pickett’s led the Steelers to game-winning drives his last two games in must-win moments against the Las Vegas Raiders and Baltimore Ravens.
After beginning the year as the team’s #2 QB, Pickett saw his first NFL action in Week 4, replacing Mitch Trubisky at halftime of the New York Jets game. On the year, Pickett’s started 11 games, completing 64.4% of his passes with six touchdowns and nine interceptions while rushing for three more scores. His numbers haven’t always looked pretty but his play as of late has been on the rise.
Over the last two games, Pickett has gone 12/15 with two touchdowns on his final two drives with a 144.9 QB rating. Against the Raiders, he found George Pickens over the middle with under a minute to go, vaulting the Steelers over the Raiders. And Sunday night on the road against Baltimore, he scrambled and connected with Najee Harris along the left sideline with less than a minute to play to knock off the Ravens. Had the Steelers lost either game, they would’ve been eliminated from the playoff race. Now, they still have a chance.
Here’s Pickett receiving the award.
Pickett is only the third Steelers’ QB to ever win the award, joining Ben Roethlisberger in 2004 and Kordell Stewart in 1995. An offensive player has won the award for three straight years. WR Chase Claypool did in 2020 while Najee Harris received those honors last season. The award was introduced in 1984 when WR Louis Lipps first won it.
Pickett was the team’s first round pick this year, taken 20th overall, and the only QB to be selected in the top two rounds. He’ll enter 2023 as the team’s unquestioned starter.
