Good offenses have players of all shapes, sizes, and styles. That creates versatility and weekly mismatches to counter the strength of the opposing defense. But obviously, when Kenny Pickett is throwing to a 5-foot-8 Calvin Austin III compared to a 6-foot-7 Darnell Washington, the catching points are different. Even players with similar measurables have their own style, own rhythm that quarterbacks must adjust to.
Appearing on the latest episode Steel Here podcast with hosts Kevin Adams and Jersey Jerry, Pickett discussed his mindset throwing to a big guy versus throwing to a little guy.
“Every guy’s different,” Pickett told the show. “Every guy, their speed in and out of cuts are different. How they track the ball over the shoulder. What kind of passes they like. Darnell’s a guy, if he’s covered, he’s not covered, he has the size to throw him open and give him the chance to go up and make plays. A guy like Calvin, it’s kind of the old saying if he’s even, he’s leaving. If he’s even with that DB I’m putting it out there because he’s gonna outrun them.”
It’s one reason why the Steelers’ offense looks better and is expected to take a leap. Pickett isn’t a rookie focused solely on the playbook, communicating the call, and doing the fundamentals. The “next step” looks like being able to get in sync with each receiver and their style. It’ll continue to be built with receivers he threw to last year, Diontae Johnson, George Pickens, and Pat Freiermuth, with a rookie like Washington and injured-in-2022 Austin developing chemistry.
Both players had strong summers. Despite foot surgery, Austin hasn’t lost any of his 4.32 speed that helped get him drafted out of Memphis. A playmaker during camp and the preseason, he made his NFL debut a memorable one with a 67-yard touchdown against Tampa Bay while also making an impact in the return game.
It’s not the first time Pickett’s talked about Austin’s impact but after seeing him for a whole summer, he’s excited about what Austin can offer the offense.
“[Austin] just didn’t have a chance to last year. I think he would’ve been a huge help for us,” Pickett said. “Now the fact that he’s healthy, you see him at 100 percent, you see the kind of game-changing speed that he has that I feel like we were lacking a little bit last year.”
Pittsburgh’s offense last year was anything but explosive. They were forced to go on long, methodical drives and often settled for field goals instead of touchdowns. While that churns clock, it also requires an offense to be perfect. A false start, a dropped pass, just a solid defensive play can stall out a drive. Big plays remove the need to get it right every time. They flip fields and shift momentum. That’s what Austin can provide.
Washington should do his damage inside the red zone to cap those long drives. His size and catch radius are an obvious matchup problem and after a quiet start, he made plays in the passing game throughout the rest of training camp. Two examples of Washington being uncovered-even-when-covered came on a jump ball fade he caught over S Miles Killebrew and a seam pass in 7v7 he caught off Minkah Fitzpatrick’s head.
Entering his second year, Pickett has as talented a cast of skill players around him as Pittsburgh’s had since 2018. And while the 2022 group isn’t as collectively strong as in ’18, it’s arguably deeper and more well-rounded. If they can reach their ceilings, the Steelers will have a good offense and become serious AFC North contenders.
Check out the entire interview in the link below.
