There’s a lot of hype surrounding Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett as he enters his second NFL season. Between his work ethic and leadership ability, there’s hope Pickett can be the guy to take the Steelers to the next level. NFL analyst Jordan Schultz broke down on the B/R Gridiron TikTok page why Pickett won’t fail and will be the next great Steelers quarterback.
“It’s simply too important. Football means too much to him. That’s what the Steelers told me. That for Kenny Pickett to fail, it matters too much to him,” Schultz said. “His leadership, he’s the prototypical new-age passer. 6’3, 220, can really move and manipulate the pocket. And I think when you’re talking about the Steelers, the quarterback really means everything. You think about Terry Bradshaw, you think about Ben Roethlisberger. I’m not saying Kenny Pickett’s those guys, but I believe he has everything you need to be the next great quarterback in the ‘Burgh.”
After shaking off some rookie plays in the first half of the season, Pickett transformed in the second half and looked like the quarterback Pittsburgh envisioned when it drafted him. After an offseason where he put in a ton of work to improve his mental and physical attributes, he should be ready to take the next step in 2023.
We’ve seen it in training camp so far, with Pickett going through his progressions and not just taking the easy check down. He’s talked about his improved footwork, and the front office has built a winning team around him. The offensive line is better, his weapons at receiver are better and they’ve built a team that can win on the ground and through the air. With a better team around him and him already looking like a better quarterback, Pickett could be in line for an impressive season.
The Steelers need him to have one. The AFC North is probably the toughest division in football and Pickett is the least-accomplished passer in the division. As a result, the Steelers have been picked to finish toward the bottom of the division by a good amount of analysts. But the game isn’t played on paper, and if Pickett can prove he can hang with the cream of the crop at the top of the division, Pittsburgh should make some noise in 2023.
He has to improve his deep ball and he has to show he can limit turnovers the way he did in the second half of last season. But if he does that and every other part of his game takes the expected step up, he’s going to be just fine and the Steelers will be good. It’s going to be exciting to watch, and I’m buying into Pickett’s development being enough to help the Steelers win a playoff game in 2023.
