Following in the footsteps of a legend within team sports, the comparisons are always going to be there.
Fortunately for second-year Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett, the comparisons to future Hall of Fame quarterback Ben Roethlisberger are starting to carry more and more weight and look like they might be legitimate overall.
Former Steelers backup quarterback and current preseason color analyst Charlie Batch certainly sees the comparisons between the two. Appearing on 93.7 The Fan’s morning show with co-hosts Adam Crowley and Dorin Dickerson, Batch stated that Pickett’s growth throughout the offseason and into training camp and the preseason reminds him quite a bit of Roethlisberger, a guy that Batch sat behind and worked with for many years with the Steelers.
“…Now he’s had a chance to breathe this offseason, truly get a few weeks off that he can allow his body to adjust where everybody’s talked about the added muscle that he mentioned 13 pounds in this off season. And when I had the opportunity to just sit down and talk to him, I say, ‘Hey man, how’s everything going?’ He said, ‘Man, it’s night and day compared to this time last year.’ And that lets me know the game is slowing down for him,” Batch told Crowley and Dickerson, according to audio via 93.7 The Fan. “And when you watch him methodically go through his reads and practice, it’s like, ‘Oh, this guy gets it.’
“And earlier this offseason, I was asked, ‘Hey, how do you compare Kenny to Ben Roethlisberger between Year One and Year Two?’ Everything that I just mentioned reminds me of Ben Roethlisberger.”
With young quarterbacks, the focus is always on seeing the game slow down from one year to the next at the NFL level. Though it’s still early in Year Two for Pickett, so far the early returns on the season ahead shows that the game has slowed down for the former Pitt star.
He’s in command of the offense, his confidence is sky-high, he’s not bailing out of pockets as much as he was as a rookie, and he’s seeing the entire field overall. That’s a clear sign the game is slowing down. As Batch points out, seeing Pickett go through his progressions during practices at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe and in the last two preseason games is a great sign that things are slowing down for Pickett mentally.
That’s a big hurdle for quarterbacks to get over at the NFL level.
How that continues in the regular season facing live fire in games that count remains to be seen, but it’s hard to not be encouraged by what Pickett has displayed this summer.
That added weight will help Pickett hold up in the pocket, too, throughout a 17-game season, which will be key for the Steelers moving forward. Add in the fact that he has the added experience, the confidence and that overall moxie, swagger and belief that he’s never out of a game, the comparisons to Roethlisberger at the same points in their careers make sense.
Will Pickett have the same success Roethlisberger had in Year Two, hoisting a Lombardi Trophy in the process? Time will tell. But Batch sees the comparisons between the two from one year to the next. That’s very promising for the Steelers moving forward.
