One of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ biggest storylines heading into 2023 is the development of quarterback Kenny Pickett as enters his second season. Speaking to the media after the team’s minicamp session today, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin talked about how Pickett has grown and become more comfortable, and as a result has “lower anxiety” than he did as a rookie.
“He’s probably a little bit lower anxiety than he was a year ago. So he’s able to absorb the totality of what it is that we’re doing and the things that come with being him, the leadership component. I just think he’s in position to receive things from a different perspective this year that may change his outlook on what it is that we’re doing,” Tomlin said via Steelers.com
It helps that Pickett got a lot of experience as a rookie, starting 12 games, and that he’s a guy who has a lot of respect in the locker room. But as a rookie, it seemed as if the playbook was pretty basic and the concepts were more or less what you’d expect with a rookie quarterback. It was just plain. But now, entering Year 2 after a season in which Pittsburgh went 9-8, Pickett should be comfortable. As a result, the offense should expand as his play improves.
Pittsburgh’s focus is still going to be to play like the team that finished the year 6-2, with an emphasis on the run game. But Pickett has new weapons on offense, with Calvin Austin III healed from his foot surgery and Allen Robinson II acquired from the Rams. There should be opportunities for Pickett to the air ball out and make plays with his arm to lead the Steelers to wins. He did it last year on two game-winning drives in Weeks 16 and 17, and if the confidence we saw from Pickett on those drives bleeds over into a full game, the Steelers should be in good shape in 2023.
At this point, he’s comfortable with the playbook and he knows what he’s capable of doing at the NFL level. As he progresses and continues to get better, the ceiling of what he can do and what the Steelers can do will continue to rise. With his comfort level increasing, the coaching staff can now throw more at him and expand the playbook and build off concepts to make the offense and the team as a whole a better unit.
That’s the sort of growth that a team needs to see from a young quarterback, and it seems as if they’re seeing it in Pickett. If he came into this offseason with the same mindset as a rookie, it would be like a car being stuck in neutral. There would be no real shot for the team or offense to take off, but Pickett has clearly shown enough growth that Tomlin believes he’s ready for that next step by receiving things from a different perspective.
Seeing how Pickett develops this season is the most important thing for Pittsburgh’s future. If he continues to take steps forward throughout the offseason, preseason and regular season (as he did last year), then I think the Steelers will be comfortable and confident going forward with Pickett as their franchise quarterback. It’s definitely going to be something to monitor, and I’m confident that Pickett can take the necessary steps to lead the Steelers to a playoff berth this season.
