Though he played just 10 snaps and attempted just seven passes in Friday night’s preseason opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett left many after his brief showing rather impressed with the second-year signal caller.
That includes ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky.
Appearing on ESPN’s Get Up Monday morning, Orlovsky praised Pickett for his performance on the road Friday night, stating that the offense the Steelers are running fits Pickett rather well.
“I’m going to give Kenny Pickett a B+. The West Coast offense that they’re running really suits him well. I thought he threw on the run really well, also,” Orlovsky said on Get Up. “Let me say this: The connection between him and George Pickens…hoooo buddy! It looks a lot like Andy Dalton and A.J. Green used to be with the Bengals.
“It’s very interesting; if they get going in that way, the Steelers offense and team changes a lot. B+. Very impressed by Kenny Pickett — again.”
Pickett certainly was impressive in the first look at him in Year Two with the Steelers. He was exceptionally sharp, completing 6-of-7 passes for 70 yards and a touchdown, hooking up with Diontae Johnson three times for 32 yards, hitting tight end Pat Freiermuth once for six yards, and connecting with George Pickens on a 33-yard touchdown over the middle with Pickens making a man miss in space and racing home for the score.
The ball was noticeably jumping out of Pickett’s hand on the night. He made great decisions, threw on the run very well, hitting Johnson on the right sideline on third and 10 to move the chains and later hitting him rolling left, letting the window develop off play-action, throwing a dart to the left sideline for a first down.
Granted, it was against Tampa Bay’s backups who weren’t doing anything exotic defensively, but Pickett was incredibly sharp and accurate. He made some big-time throws on the run and the ball zipped out of his hand with authority. He looked extremely confident and in control.
The Pickett to Pickens connection is real, too. Pickens believes it can be a Big Ben/Antonio Brown-like connection moving forward, but the Dalton/Green comparison from Orlovsky is very intriguing. Don’t forget: Green was an All-Pro and Pro Bowl receiver with Dalton when the Bengals were at their peak of that era, being a perennial AFC North contender and playoff team, while Dalton played his best football, earning three Pro Bowl trips.
Obviously, the pairing is shooting higher than that with Super Bowls in mind more so than individual success, but the connection is real.
It helps that Pickett looked so good on Friday, too. Hopefully he can build off it, but the hype and excitement with the second-year quarterback is rather high.
