Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett enters his second NFL season hoping to take the next step forward. After a slow start to his rookie year, Pickett came on during the second half of last season to lead the Steelers to a 5-0 record in his final five starts.
As he aims to carry that momentum over in 2023, he joined the Green Light with Chris Long podcast and revealed which quarterback he’d most like to shadow heading into Year 2. Pickett went big with his choice, picking a player whom many would consider the greatest to ever play the position.
“He’s retired, but I’m gonna go Tom (Brady), because he was there last year,” the Steelers QB said. “I’d want to spend a week with him.”
That’s not a surprising answer by any means, as Brady ranks first all-time with seven Super Bowl victories. Six of those titles came with the New England Patriots, while his seventh and final championship occurred during the 2020 season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at age 43, making him the oldest quarterback to ever win a Super Bowl.
Brady followed a disciplined training and diet regimen throughout his career that allowed him to play an NFL record 23 seasons. He continued to play at a high level all the way until the end and holds the NFL records for career passing yards (89,214) and touchdowns (649). His 35 career playoff victories are 19 more than any other quarterback, with Joe Montana’s 16 postseason wins ranking a distant second.
Pickett was just two years old when Brady began his NFL career and likely grew up watching him during the prime years of his career. That in mind, it makes sense he’d want to pick Brady’s brain as he hopes to carve out a legacy of his own in the coming years.
Kenny Pickett hoping to ‘master’ Steelers offense in 2023
Continuing on the podcast, Pickett explained that he has big plans for his second years as the Steelers starting quarterback.
“I just want to master our system,” Pickett said, via Steelers Depot. “You know, I go into a second year, I feel like this spring I took really command of our offense and what we’re doing and being heavily involved in what coach [Matt] Canada and coach [Mike] Tomlin on what I like [and] what I don’t like to kind of tailor our offense to what I do best [and] what our guys around me do best, and what we want to do from a schematic standpoint. I really want to master our system and run the show. So that’s what I’m working towards.”
Pickett guided the Steelers to a 7-5 record in 13 starts in 2022. He threw for 2,404 yards with seven touchdowns and nine interceptions on 63.0% passing. Pickett added 237 yards and three scores on the ground.
Pittsburgh finished with a 9-8 record this past season and missed the playoffs after back-to-back appearances in 2020 and 2021. However, with a year under his belt to get acclimated to the NFL and offensive system, Pickett will look to take them back in 2023.
On3’s Nick Geddes contributed to this report.
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