During the offseason, you started to hear the subtle drumbeat of a potential breakout season upon the horizon in 2023. Going through OTAs and minicamp, players and coaches for the Pittsburgh Steelers increased the volume of that beat, talking about Pickett’s progression on the field as well as a leader in the huddle and in the locker room. That drumbeat become full force once the preseason arrived as Pickett was literally perfect through three games, posting a perfect passer rating as the Steelers scored five touchdowns on all five drives he was in the game.
Pickett, by all intents and purposes, was the best quarterback in the preseason, looking night-and-day better than the rookie we saw getting his feet wet in the league last season. Plenty have jumped on the Pickett bandwagon over the last several weeks, including former Steelers S Ryan Clark, who called Pickett a complete quarterback in today’s game.
Kimberly Martin of ESPN is buying the Pickett hype as well too, but former NFL WR Harry Douglas told the rest of the cast on Get Up Thursday morning that everyone may need to pump the brakes a bit on Pickett becoming the next star quarterback in the NFL this season.
“Star’s a strong word,” Douglas said on Get Up, which aired live on ESPN. “it’s a strong word right now for Kenny Pickett in his career. Does he have potential to potentially get there? Yeah, of course. But a lot of people have potential to potentially be a star.”
As Douglas pointed out, star can be a strong word as that term is often characterized with the league’s best at their respective positions. Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, and Aaron Rodgers are often referred to as stars at the quarterback position, having won Super Bowls and multiple playoff games, and putting up gaudy stats on a yearly basis. Pickett hasn’t done any of those things yet, coming off a rookie season where he threw for 2,404 yards and seven touchdowns to nine interceptions.
Still, we saw glimpses of stardom down the 2022 stretch with Pittsburgh started rattling off wins, finishing the season 7-2. Pickett came up in the clutch against the Raiders and Ravens, completing two fourth-quarter comeback drives to secure victory while making plays to get the Steelers into the end zone.
I can agree with Douglas that it may be a bit premature to put Pickett in the star category. However, he does have that poise, leadership, and other intangible traits to be a good quarterback in this league for years to come. Should Pickett put together a second-year leap similar to what Trevor Lawrence of the Jacksonville Jaguars did last season, he will have a better argument for being in the star conversation among the NFL’s best quarterbacks. Douglas agrees, stating that he looks comfortable heading into Year Two and has the offensive makeup to put together a strong 2023 campaign.
“He’s so comfortable K-Mart, so I agree with you 1,000 percent on that, and he looks like he belongs,” Douglas said of Pickett.
