Steelers QB Kenny Pickett listed as biggest winner of preseason Week 1

Kenny Pickett had an impressive showing against the Seahawks. Here’s why CBS Sports thinks the Steelers rookie is the biggest winner of Week 1 of the NFL preseason.

Week 1 of the 2022 NFL preseason is in the books. There were some young players around the league who really stood out in a positive light in the first exhibition action of the year, but one who really grabbed the attention of the national football media was Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback, Kenny Pickett.

Though he didn’t enter the contest until the third quarter, Pickett looked collected and decisive from the gate — delivering accurate passes and making wise decisions with the football. Though Pickett’s offense did turn the ball over on downs late in the game when the contest was squared at 25-25, a defensive takeaway allowed the rookie QB to lead a walk-off touchdown drive in the final seconds of the game.

Pickett would ultimately finish with a stat line of 13 completions on 15 pass attempts for 95 passing yards, via ESPN. He also chipped in 3 carries for 16 yards on the ground, including a big third-down conversion with his legs late in the game. Pickett’s remarkable 132.6 passer rating in this contest was the highest mark of any qualifying NFL quarterback this past week, according to CBS Sports.

Pickett’s performance clearly didn’t go noticed. Recently, CBS Sports analyst Tyler Sullivan named Kenny Pickett as one of the biggest winners of Week 1 of the NFL preseason. Baker Mayfield was the only other winner mentioned. Here’s what Sullivan had to say about Pickett’s performance:

"Kenny Pickett, to me, was absolutely sensational in that second half. The stadium was rocking when he was stepping onto the field and he delivered quite nicely. He had a touchdown drive immediatly… And that final touchdown was a game-winner. So again, he’s coming up clutch there for the Steelers as well."

Sullivan wasn’t the only one who noticed Kenny Pickett in his NFL preseason debut. Other football analysts had similar praise for his performance. While Pickett’s first exhibition contest was as good as we could have asked for, there are still some areas where he can improve.

How can Pickett build on his first performance with Steelers?

I don’t blame Kenny Pickett for the dulled-down gameplan Matt Canada deployed. It made perfect sense what the Steelers offensive coordinator was trying to do: build the confidence of his rookie QB. This seemed to work to perfection.

Moving forward, however, there are a few other things I would love to see from Pickett. For starters, I want to see what Pickett looks like hanging in the pocket and going through multiple reads. Most of his passes against the Seahawks were set up to go to his first read, and Pickett didn’t have to do much diagnosing.

I also want to see Pickett connect on some bigger plays down the field. In his first preseason contest, Pittsburgh’s first-round pick managed just 6.3 yards per attempt — a number that would be considered very low if this were a season average. His average air yards were even less impressive, as Pickett was aided by some helpful yards after the catch.

I’m not trying to take anything away from his first performance. I think it really went as well as we could have expected. However, over the course of the next two games, we do need to see Pickett taking some shots and completing more passes past the sticks.

Overall, there were a lot of strong performances during Week 1 of the NFL preseason, but it’s hard to argue that Pickett’s impressive showing that included a game-winning touchdown wasn’t near the top of the list. I’m pleasantly optimistic about what he could show against the Jaguars in his second preseason game.