While Pittsburgh Steelers QB Kenny Pickett hasn’t been on the field for the last game and a half, his presence has been felt around the team.
Despite being in just his second NFL season, Pickett has established himself as one of the leaders in the Pittsburgh locker room. And with this team sputtering, his presence is needed more than ever.
“[Pickett is] in all the meetings,” Interim OC Eddie Faulkner said Thursday via a team-issued transcript. “I think it’s huge. It inspires the coaches when you see him coming through there. To be honest, I wouldn’t expect anything less from Pickett because that’s how he goes about his business.”
While this news isn’t necessarily surprising, it’s always good to hear positive news regarding the Steelers’ locker room. It’s especially important considering that questions about the “Steeler Way” and team’s mindset have been raised recently, including by former QB Ben Roethlisberger.
It’s no secret that this franchise is at a bit of a crossroads. There’s been speculation of moving on from Mike Tomlin, and a consensus that the standard has been lowered in recent years. Pittsburgh is far from a bottom-feeder organization in the NFL by any metric, but the days of being scared of playing the Black and Gold seem to be coming to an end.
Admitting that the franchise isn’t what it once was is a nightmare scenario, one which any fan will try to bargain out of and delay for as long as possible. The man with the best chance of flipping the script and refusing to let this happen is none other than Pickett. No matter how many Kyler Murray or Justin Fields fake trade ideas there are, the reality is that Pickett is the heavy favorite to be the team’s starter in 2024.
As shown by Pickett still showing up to meetings, his leadership ability is hardly in question anymore. But his playing ability is another story, and he’s missing some crucial games the team needed to evaluate him down the stretch here in 2023. For now, he’ll have to settle for doing whatever he can to set up Mitch Trubisky for success, as his chance to taste playoff football relies on him.
