Steelers’ Kenny Pickett Details Which QB He Models Himself After, Career Goals

Just like Bradshaw and Roethlisberger, Pickett was the Steelers’ first-round draft pick. Pickett is aware that he has big shoes to fill, and he uses it to fuel his passion. Pickett certainly seems to have all of the tools a top-tier quarterback needs.

Steelers’ Pickett Talks About His Inspirations and His Plan to Be The Top Dog

Pickett was a guest on the most recent episode of teammate, Cam Heyward‘s podcast, Not Just Football with Cam Heyward. During the podcast, Pickett was asked which current QB he models himself after. Pickett said there isn’t one quarterback that he completely models himself after. Instead, he said he takes bits from many of them and tries to integrate them into his own skills and style. He did name several quarterbacks that he admires, starting with Cincinnati Bengals quarterback, Joe Burrow.

“I love watching Joe. I watched Joe back when I was in college. When he was having that big year with Ja’Marr Chase, I was sitting down with Coach Whipple (Offensive Coordinator at the University of Pittsburgh) and Jordan [Addison], we were watching LSU tape like, ‘Hey, this is what we’re gonna do next year!’ It was kind of cool to have that almost identical season that they had together. You know, I have nothing but respect for Joe and what he’s done early on in his career.”

He also mentioned Josh Allen from the Buffalo Bills and Patrick Mahomes from the Kansas City Chiefs.

“I love watching Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes and their off-platform stuff. How they extend plays, something that I think I improved on in the back half of the season. Something I can continue to improve on, you know, just using my athleticism, extending (plays) and getting guys open downfield. You watch how those guys can pretty much make throws from any platform, either going right or left. I think that that’s a really impressive part of their game that I like.” 

Heyward mentions to Pickett that he has been doing some work with the NFL Network and one of the topics that come up continually is “who will dethrone Patrick Mahomes?” Names that are frequently mentioned, according to Heyward, are Allen and Burrow. Heyward said he asked, “Why not Kenny Pickett?” He goes on to pose the question to Pickett, what will it take to be the best quarterback in the game?

Pickett is analytical, he is known to be a student of the game. The coaching staff has all told stories about Pickett in his “office” pouring over film, working to improve. Pickett said that people place so much importance on the quarterback, like if he has a bad season, then your team is doomed. He recognizes that this is a group effort and he is just one cog in the wheel. He sees that the successful quarterbacks aren’t doing this all on their own:

“I think they got a lot of great guys around them and we have a lot of great guys around me. Rome wasn’t built in a day, I’m not gonna walk in there with these guys, we’re gonna have this continuity as if we’re Mahomes or Allen and Burrow who’ve been at these places for a long time now. They’ve got that rapport with those guys and they know exactly where everyone’s going to be. It’s going to take some work from everybody and I know everyone’s willing to do it, but you know we’ll be able to match those offenses and go toe to toe with anybody here. I’m excited to get to that point.”