Down the stretch in his rookie season, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett showed real promise at the most important position in all of sports.
After struggling early on in his tenure in the NFL, Pickett settled into the role and into the speed of the NFL game, helping Pittsburgh go 7-2 in the second half of the season, finishing 9-8 on the year overall. In that second-half stretch, Pickett led four game-winning drives and three fourth-quarter comebacks, playing a key role in the strong finish to his rookie season.
Now, ahead of the start of his second training camp — first as the starter — a number of questions surround Pickett and his overall progression. For ESPN, Pickett and his level of play coming off of his rookie season to Year Two is the Steelers’ top question entering training camp.
In a piece highlighting the top question for all 32 teams ahead of training camp, ESPN’s Brooke Pryor settled on this for the Steelers: Can QB Kenny Pickett pick up where he left off at the end of last season?
“Pickett is primed for the Year 2 jump after finishing the season with six touchdowns to one interception. It’s hard to measure improvement in a camp setting, but things like scoring in coach Mike Tomlin’s signature 7 shots drill — a period that simulates 2-point conversions — and launching (and completing) more deep shots in team periods are good barometers of Pickett and the offense’s evolution,” Pryor writes. “Not only is this season pivotal for Pickett, but it’s also critical for offensive coordinator Matt Canada, who enters the final year of his contract. Though the offense got better after the midseason bye last season, the Steelers had a league-worst 12 passing touchdowns. Pickett has plenty of high-caliber weapons in Diontae Johnson, Pat Freiermuth and George Pickens. It’s up to Canada to work with Pickett to utilize them.”
While it’s a fair question regarding Pickett and where he is on the field coming off last season to now, using training camp as a barometer for his growth and the offense’s growth is a bit silly. The Steelers aren’t going to learn all that much about the offense — or even Pickett — in a controlled practice environment.
He’s going to have some great plays; he’s going to make mistakes. It’s hard to read into that one way or the other in a training camp, or even preseason setting. The same goes for the Steelers offense and its concepts under Canada. There were plenty of deep balls in training camp last season and explosive plays, too.
Those didn’t happen much in the regular season.
Make no mistake though: Pickett has all the weapons he needs at his disposal to pick up where he left off last season, maybe even improve on his performance late last season early in the 2023 season. The offensive line has seen some upgrades on the left side of the line, and the pass catchers got some big additions — literally and figuratively — with the likes of Allen Robinson II and Darnell Washington.
It’s likely that the Steelers will see how much Pickett has taken a step forward as a leader on and off the field in training camp, and just how much of a command and comfort he has in the offensive scheme overall. But that question from Pryor for ESPN won’t be answered until well into the regular season, rather than in training camp or the preseason.
