Now that the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2023 season is getting underway after the team finished above .500 but failing to make the postseason last year, we turn our attention to the next chapter of Steelers football and everything that entails. One thing that it means is that some stock evaluations are going to start taking on more specific contexts as we get into the season, reflecting more immediate plusses and minus rather than trends over long periods. The nature of the evaluation, whether short-term or long-term, will be noted in the reasoning section below.
Player: QB Kenny Pickett
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: Though he’d looked mostly solid or better through the first week of training camp, quarterback Kenny Pickett has stacked up some of his best football in practice of his young career over the past few days, perhaps particularly in his showing in Friday Night Lights.
There is no more important storyline than Kenny Pickett, the hoped-for future of the Steelers as a franchise quarterback. Last year’s first-round draft pick, he’s going to get at a bare minimum a few years to prove whether he has what it takes to be ‘the guy’.
Well, he’s starting to look like that guy if recent training camp practices are anything to go by. Our Alex Kozora in particular has noted the recent accuracy on the placement of his passes, and his general command of the offense and decision-making have taken the predicted next step as well.
We’ve been talking all offseason about all sorts of intangible areas in which he’s grown, things that don’t directly show up within the course of play. Now we’re finally getting a chance to see some real football or football-like evidence of what he’s going to look like in Year Two. And it’s been good.
While his head coach, Mike Tomlin, has seemingly downplayed the Steelers’ need for him to be great, saying things like they’re not expecting him to win shootouts with the great quarterbacks in the division, the reality is that they actually are going to need that from him from time to time.
No matter how good they’re working toward their defense and running game, there will be times where it’s going to fall entirely on Pickett’s shoulders to win or lose ballgames. I think there’s good reason to feel better than ever that he might actually be able to do that.
Going up against Joe Burrow twice a year isn’t going to be easy, but perhaps it will make him better. He’s not shrunk from a single challenge since he has gotten into the league. He doesn’t blink in the face of pressure—perhaps following Tomlin’s advice to cut off his eyelids.
