Kenny Pickett’s ceiling, or lack thereof, was among the biggest knocks against him heading into the 2022 NFL Draft. It’s likely the driving reason why Pickett wasn’t a top-five selection, falling to No. 20 when the Pittsburgh Steelers scooped him up. Clearly, they saw room for him to grow. And Pickett agrees.
In a fantastic feature piece by Go Long’s Ty Dunne, he sat down with Pickett to review his college and brief NFL career. And the most notable quote from Pickett has him confident about where his game can go.
“You’re at your ceiling when you hang your cleats up,” Pickett told Dunne. “I’m nowhere near my ceiling.”
The article delves into Pickett’s entire career, hitting a growth spurt in high school, being passed over by schools like UConn, his first start at Pitt. All stories you should go check out (though reading the article requires a paid subscription, it’s well worth it).
Pickett’s game showed growth over the course of his rookie season. Thrown into the fire at halftime of Week Four, Pickett took his lumps early. His first start came in Week 5 on the road against the Buffalo Bills, a game in which the Steelers were blown out. A similar story played out three weeks later versus Philadelphia.
After the bye, Pittsburgh regrouped and looked like a different offense. Still not an amazing one but they didn’t crush themselves with turnovers or penalties. They ran the ball more effectively and Pickett came up large when called upon, leading game-winning drives to beat the Las Vegas Raiders and Baltimore Ravens. His game too steps in the right direction. He was smarter with the ball, kept his eyes downfield more often, and knew when to go-for-broke in a two-minute drill, something he failed to do against the Miami Dolphins earlier in the year. Like the rest of the team, Pickett persevered and fought through those speed bumps.
“Never losing belief in myself is the reason why I’m here,” Pickett told Dunne.
That progress carried over into the summer. Pickett didn’t look like a brand new player but he looked more confident and in control, commanding an offense finally and fully his. And, as has been noted before, he’s a bigger Kenny Pickett, now weighing in at 226 pounds after playing at 213 a year ago.
In the preseason, Pittsburgh’s first-team offense certainly looked much-improved. They went a perfect 5-for-5, finding the end zone each possession, with Pickett posting a perfect passer rating. The Steelers will look to carry that success over into the regular season, starting with a tough matchup tomorrow against the San Francisco 49ers’ top-rated defense. On the other side of the ball sits QB Brock Purdy, the last quarterback drafted in Pickett’s class, making for an interesting matchup to begin the year.
Again, I’ll provide a link to the entire article that you should definitely check out if you’re able to. It’s a great read.
