One can imagine why so much attention has been paid to the development and maturation of QB Kenny Pickett this offseason for the Pittsburgh Steelers. After all, he is the single most important player to the team’s present and future success. If he doesn’t succeed, the team doesn’t succeed.
Head coach Mike Tomlin wants the second-year quarterback to understand just what that means in all of its facets with the unique stature that his position holds as a franchise player at the most critical position in the game, as he explained on SiriusXM Radio to Pat Kirwan and Jim Miller.
“I just want him, because of the things that come with the position that he holds, to step outside of himself”, he said, “even as a young guy, to be cognizant of the power that he holds, his leadership, the position, and the opportunities to help others”.
To his credit, the young quarterback very much seems to have grasped that concept and has worked diligently toward that end throughout the offseason. He’s repeatedly talked about taking greater ownership of the offense and of the team generally, and there has been a great deal of tangible evidence of him doing so.
Everybody speaks particularly of his work ethic and of his leadership in glowing terms. Many who were teammates with him last year also see a more talkative, more commanding, more demanding, more helpful, more knowledgeable player on the practice field.
“I see him, I hear him every other play in walkthrough or in team [drills] like, ‘Hey, break your route here, sit here, do this, do that’”, right guard James Daniels said of Pickett earlier this week on 93.7 The Fan. “Last year, he was kind of doing it, but I didn’t hear it much. But this year, he’s always communicating, always talking. He has complete control of the offense”.
That’s what his teammates are seeing from him in Year Two in comparison to his rookie season, and it’s not by accident. Tomlin said he’s spent a good deal of time having conversations with Pickett about these sorts of things.
“Forget quality of play, arm strength, accuracy, and things [like that]. Those are tangible things”, he said. “I’m talking about growth in the intangible areas that maybe you can’t measure, but any of us that’s been a part of the business, we know is significant”.
Even if intangibles could be measured, his growth in these areas would be off the charts this offseason. He already feels like the franchise even if he still has a great deal to prove on the field. He’s got his teammates believing that it’s just a matter of having that opportunity.
According to our own eyes and ears at training camp, Alex Kozora, Pickett is coming off his best showing of training camp thus far during yesterday’s Friday Night Lights practice. That’s a good start, certainly, but until it translates directly into those same plays being made in-game, we’ll still just be talking about the intangibles. The fans want something a little more tangible.
