Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett is entering his second season in the league, and while he’s still a young quarterback, he doesn’t take his role as a Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback lightly. In a sitdown with NBC Sports’ Peter King, Pickett talked about how meaningful it is to him to play quarterback for Pittsburgh.
“I don’t take it lightly. I take a lot of pride in being the quarterback of this city, of this team, and it’s a franchise that has greatness going back a long ways. So I want to continue that greatness and I feel like I’m the guy to do it. I gotta lead our offense and lead our team,” Pickett said. “I work really hard at it, obsess over trying to be the best player I could be to put us in the situation to win a championship.”
That’s what you want to hear out of your starting quarterback. Pickett put in a lot of this work this offseason, and after finishing the year 7-2 last season to eek out a winning record at 9-8, the Steelers are on track to improve. Pickett’s work ethic is something that should help him take a step forward in his second season and avoid the dreaded sophomore slump, especially with the talent Pittsburgh added around him.
It’s clear Pickett knows that he has a lot of responsibility on his shoulders. As the starting quarterback of one of the most storied and successful franchises in the history of the NFL, there are a lot of expectations he has to live up to. Even more pressure is added when you consider that he’s following a Hall of Famer and two-time Super Bowl champion in Ben Roethlisberger and that the Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since 2016.
The Steelers and their fanbase are hungry for success, and it’s up to Pickett to bring it. The team this year is built to have success immediately, and the Steelers should be a playoff team. Pickett knows that, and it’s why, as he said, he obsesses over being the best player he can be. After his rookie season, the training wheels are off and it’s time to show what sort of quarterback he can be.
Pickett wants to be the guy to lead the Steelers back to the promised land. If he can step up this season and show that he can be a franchise guy, that just may be the case at some point sooner rather than later.
