The Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t play Kenny Pickett very long against the Jaguars, but the rookie QB was spectacular in his second preseason game.
It was an up and down night for the Steelers in their second preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The offensive line looked atrocious from the gate, as Dan Moore Jr. and James Daniels had some ugly snaps. Likewise, Pittsburgh’s run defense looked rusty in this contest early on. One player who didn’t disappoint, however, was Kenny Pickett.
Fans were thrilled with Pickett’s debut performance last week against the Seattle Seahawks which included a game-winning touchdown drive. While many worried about a regression in Week 2 of the preseason, this wasn’t the case at all. In fact, the rookie quarterback took another step forward.
Pickett entered the game as the backup quarterback following Mitch Trubisky, and he absolutely balled out. In the second quarter, Pittsburgh’s first-round pick completed 6 of 7 passes for 76 yards and a touchdown while looking razor-sharp in terms of accuracy and timing. Coach Mike Tomlin decided Pickett’s night would be done at halftime, as he had apparently seen enough.
Against Jacksonville, Pickett averaged 10.9 yards per attempt and recorded a fantastic passer rating of 151.5 on the evening, via ESPN. This is the second straight game in which Pickett finished with the highest passer rating of any QB in the contest. With his 132.6 passer rating last week against Seattle, it’s pretty safe to say that Pickett has been one of the best quarterbacks of the entire 2022 preseason so far.
Should the Steelers have played Pickett longer?
Once again, it’s impossible to be disappointed with the performance we saw from Kenny Pickett on Saturday night. Though I liked what he did in his debut, I was even more impressed by what I saw from him in Week 2 of the preseason.
Honestly, it’s incredibly hard to pick apart his game and look for ways he could improve. If I have one beef with how things went down, I wish Pickett would have played more.
I was hoping that Tomlin would have been willing to give Pickett the whole third quarter as well, but apparently, he doesn’t think the rookie needs it. By the end of the night, Pickett played just 8 offensive snaps. His final drive was remarkable, but I really wish he could have gotten more reps under his belt in these first two games.
The good thing is that Pickett’s confidence should be soaring as Tomlin and offensive coordinator, Matt Canada, have whipped up a game plan that has helped him early on.
After watching Kenny Pickett these first two games, I’m actually starting to get pretty excited about what he could offer the Pittsburgh Steelers in the near future. With how well he has played, you can expect the starting quarterback debate to be a hotter topic than ever.