Steelers' Mike Tomlin 'excited' about Kenny Pickett: 'I'm extremely confident in him'

The Pittsburgh Steelers have had an up-and-down year at the quarterback position. The 2023 season saw the team start three different players at quarterback, primarily second-year player Kenny Pickett, until he was injured in Week 13 against the Arizona Cardinals. Mitch Trubisky filled in for Pickett while he was sidelined, until he was benched in favor of Mason Rudolph to end the season. Rudolph ended the season on a strong note, and started ahead of Pickett once the latter returned to full health. Despite Pickett not playing to end the year, Mike Tomlin shared he still has faith in Pickett to become the quarterback the team needs him to be.

Steelers' Mike Tomlin Shares His Excitement For Kenny Pickett In 2024

Pickett's NFL career has been rocky through his first two seasons. He has shown flashes of being a good quarterback, but he certainly hasn't put up jaw-dropping stats. Despite not lighting up the box score, Pickett has had a decent amount of team success while being the starting quarterback for the Steelers. He has a record of 14-6 in games that he has started and finished in his career. This is a major reason the organization still has full confidence in him, which Tomlin shared during his end-of-season press conference on Thursday.

"I'm extremely confident in him. I feel stronger about some of the intangible things than I did obviously when we first started doing business with him because I have evidence of it. He's highly competitive and professional. He doesn't run from challenges, he runs to challenges, I think that's evident in the way he plays, particularly at the end of close football games. He's got good framework to work with, especially for a young guy, he's mature beyond his years. I'm excited about him."

Tomlin has been consistent in praising Pickett for how he is off the field, as a leader and a competitor. Those are the intangible qualities he speaks of that he sees in Pickett. Even when going through the rough times at the end of the season when Rudolph was starting over him, Pickett remained a leader. He was still a captain of the team and was seen going out for the coin toss even though he was the backup. He did what he could to help Rudolph succeed, which says a lot about Pickett's maturity and professionalism. 

Pickett is still developing, and having to lead an offense run by Matt Canada for the majority of his career has certainly hindered his progression as a quarterback in the NFL. The Steelers seem to be set on bringing in someone from the outside to run the offense in 2024, and seeing how Pickett performs in a new system will certainly help the team figure out whether or not he is their quarterback of the future. Tomlin spoke more about how 2024 will be a huge year for Pickett, and even met with him to talk about it.

"Certainly it's a big year for him. We met this morning, and we acknowledged that. It is a huge year for him. But I'm also excited about just watching him wear that component of it, because I just know how he's wired and built and I'm excited about watching him attack it."

Pickett will have to take a sizable leap in production in 2024 to prove his worth as a first-round draft pick, and hopefully bringing in an outsider to run the offense will help him with that. The Steelers organization has been behind the eight ball when it comes to adapting on the offensive side of the football, and it shows as they were the 28th-ranked offense in the NFL in 2023. Bringing in a new, fresh mind to run the offense will help all players succeed in the future, including Pickett. 

Rudolph is an unrestricted free agent going into the 2024 offseason, and the Steelers will certainly make an attempt to bring him back. It is likely other teams around the NFL will be making a push to sign him as well, so it is not a sure thing that he will be wearing the black and gold in 2024. If he is, Pickett will need to beat him out for the starting job during training camp, as it is unlikely Pickett will be the surefire starter going into next season. Based on Tomlin's comments, it sounds like this was something he discussed with Pickett in their meeting, and Pickett will be embracing the challenge.