Entering his second season in the NFL, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett is expected to take a jump in performance. After his rookie season in which he threw for 2,404 yards, seven touchdowns, and nine interceptions, Pickett will need to have a much better season statistically to gain the support of the national media. Pickett did end his rookie season strong, and one national media member believes he can make a leap in his second season.
On ESPN’s Pardon The Interruption, Michael Wilbon said he believes head coach Mike Tomlin will be able to get the most out of Pickett if Pickett has “it.”
“If Pickett’s got it in him, I’m betting on Tomlin and that coaching staff to get it out of him,” Wilbon said during the Tuesday show. “I mean you don’t have to be great right away walking into the league. There’s a little bit of time even these days, he’ll have enough. I think he’ll certainly be much better.”
For people who watched the Steelers closely last season it was very clear how much Pickett improved down the stretch. While part of it was due to the running game taking off in the last nine weeks of the season, Pickett threw five touchdowns and only one interception, while leading four game-winning drives. Comparing how he played in his first few games to his last was night and day and is a reason for a lot of the optimism for his season this year.
Pickett still has room to improve, but Tomlin is one of the best coaches in the NFL. Although Tomlin is hailed as a defensive-minded coach (and he is), he helped Pickett improve last season by not putting too much on his plate. After the bye week Pittsburgh went very run heavy and tried to control the clock, which helped in Pickett’s rookie-season progression.
This season will be big for Pickett and the Steelers. While he doesn’t have to be elite this year, he does need to improve and start putting up some better stats. Pickett did not have a single game where he threw more than one touchdown, and that simply has to change. You can’t be a Super Bowl contender in this era with a quarterback who struggles to put up points. I expect after a year of learning and a full training camp and offseason Pickett will be more efficient and effective as he ascends into a top-15 quarterback in the NFL.
