Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin announced that all healthy players would be playing in the team's preseason opener on Friday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, including second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett. The signal-caller's personal quarterback coach Tony Racioppi laid out why he thinks it's crucial for his pupil to get playing time in exhibition games and what he's expecting to see.
Racioppi joined The Morning Show with Adam Crowley and former NFL tight end Dorin Dickerson on 93.7 The Fan on Thursday morning in what is going to be a regular guest spot throughout the season. He said it's important for a young player like Pickett to get more reps to help him continue to develop a good rapport with all the players on offense and continue to enrich his understanding of the offensive system.
"At the end of the day, it's about getting used to the competition," he said. "It's going through the dance. You're looking for clean football. Clean operation in and out of the huddle, no false start penalties. Execute the plays, stay healthy, and get out."
He added that as much as teams try to create a game-like environment in practice, there's nothing that can truly simulate an NFL contest better than a preseason game. He added that playing somewhere between a quarter and a half in Tampa would be the right amount of playing time for Pickett in his first action of 2023.
Racioppi said he's seen tremendous improvement from Pickett in this offseason, particularly when it comes to his footwork. He said he's seen a positive fundamental change that has allowed the young quarterback to do a better job establishing his base in the pocket and that he's not rushing to get out too early.
The biggest thing for Pickett this offseason is getting more significant reps, whether that's been in training camp or getting in his workouts with teammates before the team's official part of the offseason began. Adding some reps with the first-team offense in the preseason is just another avenue for him to continue to build those relationships with receivers and gain a deeper mastery of the offense.
Racioppi said there are three factors in the evolution of quarterbacks' understanding from his perspective as a teacher. First is what you are doing as the quarterback and what your job is. The second is understanding what the team is doing and the play call. Finally, what is the defense doing? He stressed that the quarterback needs to know his job before he can diagnose the defense, but it doesn't always happen that way.
"Once you get into a game, it usually works in reverse," he said. "It's, 'Here's what's the defense giving me. Here's what we're doing schematically. This is my job and now I have to execute.'"
He added that the extra weight Pickett put on in the offseason should help him when the hits start. Racioppi said the extra meat on bones, without sacrificing his athleticism, should help him to sustain more hits and be less beat up in 2023.
Steelers And Racioppi Collaborate To Help Pickett's Development
Racioppi said that when it comes to finding ways to help Pickett continue to try and develop into the best possible quarterback he can be, it's an active conversation between Tomlin, Offensive Coordinator Matt Canada and team quarterback coach, Mike Sullivan.
Racioppi said even though it's an open dialogue between the parties, he understands his place is as more of a listener than anything else.
"It's a collective effort," he said. "I know I'm not on their staff. So, I'm going to do what they want to do. He doesn't play for me. He plays for them."
He added that often when he does workouts with Pickett, he'll send the videos to Sullivan to review. and then they will discuss things together. The other main player in Pickett's development is the man himself. Racioppi said that he has got great self-awareness in evaluating and realizing what he needs to continually improve.
Racioppi and everyone else will get the first chance to see if all the hard work is paying off when the Steelers offense touches down in an NFL stadium in Tampa Bay on Friday night.
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