Pro Football Focus’ Trevor Sikkema recently posted a piece highlighting an interview he had with Pittsburgh Steelers QB Kenny Pickett and talked about his rookie season and the adversity he overcame in his rookie season to help Pittsburgh rise from obscurity to finish the season 9-8 and nearly make the postseason.
Sikkema concluded his interview with Pickett by asking him what his goal for 2023 is after a strong finish to 2022. Pickett answered that he isn’t chasing any statical goals for next season, but there is one specific goal he does have for himself and his teammates in his second season.
“My goals are to win,” Pickett said to Sikkema via PFF. “I don’t care how it gets done, what needs to be done. I’m not going to give you a number of what I’m aiming for. It’s just to go out there and win.”
In Pittsburgh, “The Standard Is The Standard.” For a team with six Super Bowl victories and one of the winningest teams in the last two decades, the Pittsburgh Steelers hold winning above everything else. HC Mike Tomlin has often said that style points don’t matter, empowering his team to go out there every Sunday, whether they are a title contender with a stacked roster or a team supposed to be rebuilding with a rookie QB and a remade roster, and compete to win football games.
QB Kenny Pickett has grown up seeing the success of the Steelers, playing right next door at Pitt as was front-and-center as a freshman in 2017 with the Steelers finished the regular season 13-3 and won the AFC North. He has taken over for Ben Roethlisberger who is a two-time Super Bowl champion and has won 165 games during his 18-year NFL career.
While fans will want Pickett to become a top-tier QB one day with it comes to passing yards and TDs, the key determining factor of his career will be what he does in the win/loss column. That’s all that owner Art Rooney II cares about as well as Mike Tomlin who has emphasized the importance of winning and pursuing championships since he arrived in Pittsburgh in 2007. Should Pickett take the torch from Ben and deliver Pittsburgh winning seasons and a Super Bowl title or two before it’s all said and done, he will be beloved by the city and the fans, cementing his own legacy in Pittsburgh Steelers’ lore.
