The Pittsburgh Steelers were quite busy in the offseason, adding experienced pieces to the roster on both sides of the football, and then putting together one of the best draft classes in the NFL in late April.
Ahead of the 2023 season, the roster looks rather strong top to bottom and few questions remain regarding the outlook of the Steelers. With the roster shored up, the Steelers look like legitimate playoff contenders. Should second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett take a leap in 2023, they could go from playoff contenders to Super Bowl contenders.
Pickett’s potential ascension into a higher tier at the quarterback position is the biggest reason for optimism, at least according to Pro Football Focus, especially due to his play down the stretch in 2022, helping the Steelers rebound from a 2-6 start to finish 9-8.
“From Week 12 onward last year, the only quarterback in the NFL with a higher passing grade than Kenny Pickett was Joe Burrow. Pickett recorded an incredible 7.2% big-time throw percentage and just a 1.2% turnover-worthy play percentage,” PFF’s Trevor Sikkema writes. “All of that points to a big leap for Pickett in his second season. With hopefully a fully healthy T.J. Watt returning for a full season, Pittsburgh will be a tough out once again.”
Though the numbers last season weren’t all that pretty from Pickett (2,404 passing yards, seven touchdowns, nine interceptions), he made some monumental throws late in games to help the Steelers pull out late wins. He finished with four fourth-quarter comebacks and three game-winning drives in his rookie season — numbers that are quite impressive overall in their own regard.
Pickett was rather impressive in the second half of the season, cutting way down on the turnovers and general mistakes a young quarterback makes. He put together some strong performances in leading the Steelers to a 6-2 record when he was on the field.
Pittsburgh rebounded from a disastrous 2-6 start to finish 9-8, with a handful of wins in the second half of the season coming due to Pickett leading fourth quarter comebacks (Saints and Colts wins) and game-winning drives (Raiders, Ravens). He showed he has that “it” factor in big moments. When the lights get bright and the moment gets tight, he simply didn’t shrink, instead rising to the occasion.
That was big for a young quarterback to go through and grow from. That has him set up for success moving forward and has raised the bar on expectations as well.
Now, it all sets up for a big second season in Pittsburgh.
While he has a bit of a way to go before he proves that he is truly legit and a realistic franchise quarterback for the Steelers, the excitement and expectations around Pickett entering Year 2 are rather high, as they should be. The NFL has recently seen some second-year quarterbacks, like Trevor Lawrence and Jalen Hurts, make significant leaps.
Though it might be a stretch to expect Pickett to make the leap into stardom that Hurts and Lawrence did last season, that’s the type of company and expectations he’s put himself into due to his performance down the stretch in 2022.
All the pieces are seemingly in place around Pickett for that second-year ascension. Should he do just that in 2023, the Steelers will be in great shape when it comes to the NFL landscape. That’s why optimism is — and should be — high regarding the Black and Gold.
