Kenny Pickett was the only quarterback during the preseason to post a perfect passer rating. He went 13-of-15 passing for 199 yards and two touchdowns while hardly even sniffing a potential interception on any of his throws. He led the entire NFL with 13.3 yards per pass attempt, although there are still several games left to play.
More significant than a perfect passer rating, however, is perfect results. The Steelers scored five touchdowns on the five drives led by Pickett. He converted on third down when he needed to in order to keep drives alive, which was integral to their improvement in the second half of last season, but he also showed they can shorten up their drives with explosive plays.
He hit on four explosive plays, including three of 20-plus air yards, during the preseason. Only two quarterbacks connected on more deep passes, those being Nathan Peterman and Kyle Trask, both of whom had considerably more pass attempts, each managing four such completions.
He was the highest-graded quarterback in the entire NFL for Pro Football Focus, both in overall grade and in passing grade. He has an adjusted completion percentage of 92.9 and the third-most Big-Time Plays with three, one behind the leaders, both of whom, again, had considerably more pass attempts. And he had zero Turnover-Worthy Plays.
It could hardly have gone better for Pickett, and yet perhaps the thing that most impressed me was the fact that he never scrambled. He was pressured out of the pocket several times, but he kept his eyes downfield and found his targets, throwing with accuracy on the move and off-platform. A full two-thirds of his dropbacks produced a first down or touchdown.
And yet it was just 15 plays, an incredibly small sample size. He could double that in the first game of the season. It’s obvious that he’s not going to look quite as remarkable in the regular season against starting defenders and coordinators who are actually game-planning to stop him.
And it’s safe to say that the Steelers are not going to be sneaking up on anybody at this point, not after the preseason they just had, particularly for Pickett and the offense. The San Francisco 49ers are going to give them their best—at least, assuming OLB Nick Bosa decides to join them.
The perfect passer rating, 158.6, is symbolic of the overall campaign that he just authored over the past three weeks. It was a dramatic improvement from this time a year ago, when he was more focused on playing cleanly than being a difference-maker. Now comfortable in his role, he’s ready to be the reason that the Steelers win.
It’s a picture-perfect recipe for the future of the franchise. It’s also an awful lot to live up to, and chances are it’s not going to come right away if it comes at all.
