Former Pitt and Miami Dolphins head coach and current analyst Dave Wannstedt was a guest on The Colin Cowherd podcast earlier this week, and he thinks that Kenny Pickett can lead the Steelers to the promised land.
“He’s just such a winner and such a competitor. Maybe his arm strength isn’t Ben Roethlisberger, but I think the guy’s probably more athletic and he’s played at more big games at this point than Ben did. Coming out of college, Ben did not play at the level that Kenny Pickett did for four years against Division One schools and beat some really good opponents. I think all that stuff is part of him and he’s very confident,” Wannstedt said. “They’re expecting championships. This is not Pickett’s good enough to get to the playoffs as long as we play good defense and run the ball. They see Kenny Pickett as a Super Bowl-type quarterback for them.”
Wannstedt said he talked to someone close to the team and there’s a lot of excitement around Pickett and what he can be. Roethlisberger led the Steelers to a 15-1 record during his rookie season and won a Super Bowl in his second. Right now no one is earmarking the 2023 Steelers as Super Bowl contenders, but Pickett showed a lot down the stretch of his rookie season. With further development, he could become a really good quarterback.
He’s firmly entrenched as the starter after working mostly as the third-stringer in camp last season, and another year of familiarity with the offense should surely help Pickett grow and develop. While Roethlisberger was a magician at times avoiding sacks, his athleticism was never a major strength, so it’s fair to say that Pickett is more athletic, a trait that’s becoming more and more important in quarterbacks.
Pickett’s college experiences as a Heisman Trophy finalist and leading Pitt to a Peach Bowl appearance as a senior definitely play into his mentality as a winner. He’s a guy who works incredibly hard at his craft and his work ethic has been routinely praised by players and coaches alike this offseason. That is something that bodes well for him not only now but also in the future as he continues to grow.
I think it’s premature to say that Pickett could be a Super Bowl-caliber quarterback in 2023, but he can lead Pittsburgh to the postseason. As he develops, he certainly could become a guy who leads his team to the world’s biggest game and adds another Lombardi Trophy to Pittsburgh’s resume. But the hype train for young quarterbacks always reaches a fever pitch during training camp, so it’s going to be up to Pickett to show on the field how much he’s really grown and whether he’s going to be that guy.
But everything that’s coming out of Latrobe and we’ve heard about Pickett throughout the offseason is certainly promising. It’s going to be really fun to watch him develop and see what he looks like this season after he closed 2022 strong, but there’s still a lot he’s going to need to work on and show.
His ability to push the ball downfield wasn’t really there as a rookie, and he struggled with turnovers early on in his tenure as the team’s starter. There is a definite effort for Pittsburgh’s offense to become more explosive in 2023, and it’s going to be up to Pickett to make those throws downfield and quell the doubts about his arm strength. It’s undeniable that the future is exciting though, especially with how the Steelers attacked the 2023 offseason and made the team better pretty much across the board.
This might be the strongest and most complete roster the Steelers have had in years, and expectations are rightfully high. With the season kicking off in just about a month, it’s going to be up to Pickett and the rest of the team to show that they can be as good as it sounds like they can be.
