So far in the first four games of the 2023 season, Pittsburgh Steelers second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett has seemingly reverted back to very bad habits that he displayed at the University of Pittsburgh and then early in his rookie season.
It’s not so much the bad decision making with the football. Instead, it’s his tendency to bail out of the pocket far too quickly, relying on his legs to extend plays and try and make something happen off script.
Sometimes it works, but oftentimes he’s run right into sacks or make dreadful decisions with the football on the run. That’s caused some criticism to rain down on the second-year quarterback as he’s not exactly helping out his struggling offensive line with his pocket presence and really isn’t giving passing concepts — however bland they are — to truly develop downfield.
For Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, he’s not too worried about Pickett’s tendency to get out of the pocket and make plays early in the season. Appearing on the latest episode of The Mike Tomlin Show Saturday on the Steelers’ YouTube page, Tomlin stated that Pickett’s escapability is very similar style to how a young Ben Roethlisberger played, which has Tomlin aiming to allow Pickett to express his natural talents on the move while also trying to manage how often and how varying the results are, good and bad.
Rather, Tomlin’s concern is the issues with rhythm passing within the Steelers’ offense.
“I think us not delivering rhythm passes in rhythm is a concern. His escapability and so forth, or his talents that he brings is no different than Lamar [Jackson] and the talents that he brings,” Tomlin said to Steelers.com’s Bob Pompeani Saturday, according to video via the Steelers’ YouTube page. “Quarterbacks that can extend plays and make plays as plays get extended, you generally love that when the results are positive and then you question it sometimes when his results aren’t.
“I’ve learned over the long haul, particularly having a guy like Ben [Roethlisberger] that could extend and and turn bad to good, to allow them to express their natural talents and just work to manage it in an effort to make the good show up a hell of a lot more than the bad.”
Earlier in the week, Tomlin talked about needing to see Pickett make more fluid decisions moving forward after struggling yet again in the Week Four loss to the Houston Texans. That, ironically, includes decision-making within the pocket. So, it’s really not a surprise that Tomlin toed a fine line on Saturday stating to Pompeani that while he’s more concerned with the lack of in rhythm throws from Picket and the Steelers’ offense, he’s not going to be a leash on Pickett when it comes to his mobility.
While Pickett most definitely does not have a similar skillset as Lamar Jackson — nobody does — like Tomlin stated, Pickett’s mobility is a piece of the puzzle for the Steelers’ offense. However, it’s also becoming a crutch for him, especially behind an offensive line that he’s seemingly uncomfortable playing behind currently.
His eyes drop to the rush far too quickly in the pocket and even the slightest hint of trouble, more often than not he’s bailing.
Though he can make plays with his legs and can really give defenses fits when he decides to scramble, the tendency to pull the football down, spin out of the pocket and run himself into pressure is very, very concerning at this point in his career. We’ll see if he can clean it up, and do so quickly. QB coach Mike Sullivan has to drill it out of him at this point, or things could go from bad to much, much worse.
