After missing the postseason entirely in 2022, even if just barely, the Pittsburgh Steelers have much greater ambitions. They had one of their most aggressive offseasons in recent memory, and as is standard, anything but a Super Bowl will be looked upon internally as a season in which they did not achieve their goal. But can they compete? Do the players believe that?
“I do”, cornerback Patrick Peterson told Jim Rome yesterday, and he broke it down, ultimately concluding, rather simply, that they have the components around him to go as far as second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett can take them.
“We have all the pieces that we need on defense. We know defense wins championships. We have talent across the board on the offensive side of the ball. I believe the front office did a great job of getting what we needed in the draft”, the 13th-year cornerback said.
“Then you add in Allen Robinson, you got Diontae Johnson, you got George Pickens, you got Najee. Now it’s all gonna come down to how well Kenny can play, and can he put the ball where it needs to go?”, he posited. “I believe he is a guy that we can rely on, a guy who we can count on. Now it’s gonna all fall on him if he can go out there and show us what he’s capable of doing”.
The 20th-overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, Pickett was inserted into the starting lineup at halftime in week four of the season, replacing Mitch Trubisky as the man under center. A statistically unremarkable season—which included more interceptions than touchdowns—belied a growing talent that the team expects to bloom this year.
It starts with the opportunity for him to take ownership of the offense, and of the team as a whole. Aided by his 6-1 record in the back half of last season in the games he started and finished, including stirring last-minute wins in consecutive weeks over the Raiders and Ravens, he’s gotten everybody’s attention, and it shows this offseason.
“He sets the table for how practice is gonna go each and every day”, Peterson said of the young quarterback, making it clear that the rest of the team already looks to him as the tone setter of the group, feeding off of the energy he puts out.
The Steelers have continued to rebuild the offensive line in front of him, adding Isaac Seumalo in free agency and Broderick Jones in the draft, while also working to strengthen the depth. They added wide receiver Allen Robinson II via trade and tight end Darnell Washington in the draft while awaiting the debut of 2022 draft pick Calvin Austin III.
In theory, Pittsburgh has stacked the roster sufficiently to the point where the quality of talent around the starting quarterback shouldn’t be a huge obstacle, leaving much of the pressure on Pickett to get the job done. Of course, if all else fans, one can always blame (Matt) Canada…
