While Pittsburgh Steelers QB Kenny Pickett did not light the world on fire his rookie season, he slowly but surely showed gradual improvement. In addition to his play, Pickett has often been praised by his teammates for his leadership, which he does not take for granted. Today, Pickett met with reporters after he arrived at Saint Vincent’s College for training camp and spoke about how he grew as a leader from last season until now.
“I think it’s kind of a natural progression,” Pickett said in his interview that was posted to Steelers.com. “When I first got here it’s better to be seen rather than heard being a young guy coming in. I wanna earn the respect of my teammates. Once I felt like I have that respect then I can go be a more vocal leader and kind of run the offense, which I feel like I did this spring. So I think it’s a gradual progression. It’s something that I don’t take lightly, I take it very seriously.”
One way Pickett earned the respect of his teammates was waiting his turn. Despite being a first-round draft pick, he entered training camp last season as the third-string quarterback seeing limited reps early on. Pickett had to prove himself to both head coach Mike Tomlin and his teammates, eventually climbing to second string by the end of training camp before finally taking over at starting quarterback at halftime in Week Four.
Once Pickett became the full-time starter he truly took over as a leader. Despite a rough start, locker room faith in the Steelers quarterback never wavered, and post-bye week, Pickett played a huge part in the Steelers’ turnaround, going 6-2 while leading four game-winning drives in the back half of the season.
But that was last year, this year he needs to improve even more. A stat line like last year (2,204 passing yards, seven touchdowns, and nine interceptions) is not going to cut it. Pickett has to improve but with his work ethic and leadership it should. His teammates have bought into him being the starting quarterback and even new acquisition WR Allen Robinson II was extremely impressed with Pickett’s leadership ability.
Entering training camp Pickett’s development is going to be what everyone focuses on the most, and rightfully so. He is the heir to QB Ben Roethlisberger and the expectation is that he will bring a seventh Super Bowl to the Steel City. However, until the practices start and the regular season gets underway we don’t know how well Pickett has improved. If there is one thing we do now, the locker room and organization are behind Pickett and believes in him.
That should be a great sign for things to come.
