Second-year QB Kenny Pickett did not have the season that many were hoping for. After finishing his rookie season strong and having a nearly perfect preseason with five touchdowns for the offense in five drives with Pickett playing, he fell flat in the regular season. Look no further than the Steelers firing their offensive coordinator in-season, which was previously unprecedented for the organization. Matt Canada wasn’t helping matters, but Pickett deserves some of the blame for that big of a move. Art Rooney II did an interview with KDKA’s Bob Pompeani and was asked what the next step for Pickett looks like. His answer was very blunt.
“The next step, number one, would look like more points week in and week out,” Rooney said. “Just being a more effective offense, continue to do some of the things we were able to do this year in terms of ball control and being able to run effectively. But then add on top of that, scoring more touchdowns.”
The Pittsburgh Steelers are hoping that a new offensive coordinator can spark some life into their young quarterback. Over his first two seasons, Pickett has started 24 games and has 446 completions on 713 attempts for 4,474 yards, 13 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. He took a step forward in 2023 with fewer interceptions but took a noticeable step back in scoring production with just six touchdowns and four interceptions in 12 starts.
Important to note, Kenny Pickett only played one and a half games without Canada as the OC and had one of the best performances of his career in a full game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 12, with the offense finally breaking the 400-yard mark, ending a multi-season drought. Mason Rudolph stepped in and had back-to-back games of 30-plus points, keeping Pickett on the bench after he returned from ankle surgery and dialing up the pressure further on Pickett’s career.
A new coordinator with a new offensive system could do a lot of good for him.
Steelers new OC Arthur Smith talked about the importance of creating four-point swings during his introductory interview with Missi Matthews on the Steelers’ website earlier this week. He talked about turning some of these three-point field goal drives into touchdowns. The Steelers had the eighth-worst TD percentage in the red zone last season, with 48.9 percent of their drives ending in a touchdown from the red zone, well below the league average of 54.6 percent.
Pickett has one of the worst touchdown percentages of any quarterback in league history with 24 starts. For a deep dive into the start of Pickett’s career and comparing it to other QBs throughout history, our Jeremy Pike did a comprehensive study.
As Rooney said in his interview on the Steelers’ website last week, this is a huge year for Kenny Pickett. Another season with the offense failing to score points consistently and he will likely be out of chances.
