Many were shocked when the Pittsburgh Steelers selected quarterback, Kenny Pickett with their first-round selection in the 2022 NFL Draft. In a draft in which the quarterback class was not deep, the Steelers felt comfortable enough with what they saw from Pickett at the University of Pittsburgh to give him the potential keys to their franchise in the same year they saw their leader under center for 18 seasons retire in Ben Roethlisberger.
Although you never wanted to compare a rookie to a future Hall of Fame player, expectations were high for Pickett, especially after the success he had in college the year prior. As soon as Steeler Nation heard his name called on draft night, those expectations never dwindled until season's end. After impressing throughout mini-camp, Head Coach Mike Tomlin saw enough in the rookie to give him the keys to the offense as early as a Week 4 contest against the New York Jets, and never looked back.
Adjusting to the NFL game can be a challenge in itself, especially for any rookie coming in at the quarterback position. Although playing in a familiar place (Acrisure Stadium) probably helped Pickett more than we know, there is no way to actually get a feel for the game, until actually being placed in that situation. It was a given that he would see the field for the Steelers at some point in 2022, the question was when?
Just like that, after free agent addition, Mitch Trubisky failed to get this offense going after three games, the rookie was placed under center as a hope of a change of pace offensively after a slow 1-3 start. As you can imagine, Pickett started off slow as well as he tried to learn the pace of the game, mixed with learning a new dialogue offensively. In the rookie's first five games before the bye week, he threw for 962 yards, only throwing two touchdowns, while throwing eight interceptions, leading the Steelers to a record of 2-6 halfway through the season at the bye week.
After the bye week is when all of Steeler Nation really got a glimpse of just how good Pickett can be. In the team's final seven games, the rookie quarterback threw for 1,442 yards, five touchdowns and only one solo interception. The change in his play was visible, he wasn't trying to force passes or be the hero in most situations. It seemed like the game at the NFL level was finally starting to make sense to him, and the results showed.
Although he may have already won the hearts of Steeler Nation, there is no denying that even with his late success, there is still plenty of room for growth. One of the best things about Pickett has to be his maturity level, with such little NFL experience behind his belt. Even with all of his early success so far in his young career, Pickett has already been vocal on a variety of different media outlets this off-season discussing his plans for what will be his first NFL off-season as a starter and shared some personal criticism on particular areas in which he can improve on this upcoming year, in hopes of keeping the position his for many years to come:
“It was an unbelievable final college season, rookie season, having the Heisman ceremony and then getting drafted in the first round. All my dreams came true this year and it was incredibly special. I got to enjoy it with a lot of my family members, friends and family.”
“It was a lot of learning and just taking it a day at a time. But I definitely enjoyed it and it was an unbelievable learning experience and I think I have a lot to build off of for year two.”
WATCH FULL KENNY PICKETT INTERVIEW WITH 93.7 THE FAN HERE
What areas do you think Kenny Pickett needs to improve on most?
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