The Steelers made Kenny Pickett their quarterback of the future, and here is my opinion of his play as a rookie.
The Kenny Pickett saga felt like a roller coaster at times. Pickett saw various highs and lows as a rookie from a better-than-expected preseason to waiting on the bench, to interception-heavy early games, to finally calming down a bit. Sometimes he looked like the next great quarterback, and other times he looked incredibly flawed as a player.
With the season now over, I wanted to take the time to break down what went well for Pickett and what left me wanting more. To be honest, I was disappointed when his rookie season wrapped up (more on that soon). That doesn’t mean he was abysmal, but I certainly had higher expectations of Pickett before the season began.
What I’m comparing to the Steelers quarterback
To be clear, this is my overall view of Pickett’s entire rookie season. From his first snaps against the Jets to his final drive against the Browns. I intend to highlight the areas in which he both improved or failed to progress. This should be an encompassing study as I try to find the best of what Pickett has to offer and the worst of what he did.
While many blame his struggles on a lacking offense, I’m trying to not take that much into account. The play calling could have been better, and the offense was a lacking unit overall, but some of that Pickett overcame while other aspects he didn’t. I want this to be focused on Pickett’s play overall.
Steelers had some highs from Kenny Pickett
I think the best thing that Pickett showed in his rookie season was an intangible factor. While arm talent is important, Pickett has the mindset of a winner. The moment never seemed to get too big for him despite numerous struggles this season. Especially towards the back half of the season, Pickett was regularly rising to big occasions.
From multiple game-winning drives to clutch plays to keep the game alive, Pickett always seemed to remain collected. A lot of rookies would force plays when they are down or crumble under the pressure, but Pickett didn’t for the most part. That is a great trait to have in a franchise quarterback.
As well, his comfort in the pocket was a surprising trait. A lot of young quarterbacks tend to bail out of the pocket quickly and scramble even when passing opportunities still exist. There were times when Pickett bailed out of the pocket too fast, but he would constantly keep his eyes down the field. Could he take off and scramble? Sure, but he was always trying to make passing plays even when he went out of the pocket.
Another strong trait from Pickett was his ability to shake off poor mistakes. Especially early in the season, Pickett was making a lot of mistakes, but that didn’t seem to faze him. He continued to trust himself to make the big play even after struggling to do so.
Finally, he displayed the ability to put good velocity on his short passes. There were some throws that needed to be in a small window, and Pickett was able to get the ball there. I wasn’t overly impressed with his arm talent, but his short and intermediate velocity was a promising thing to see.
There was a lot of bad with his rookie season
While I do think Pickett got better as the season progressed, there were still a lot of issues that will need to be addressed heading into year two. To me, the worst element of his game was his medium-to-long accuracy. He was consistently off the mark there, and while it wasn’t always costly, it did the offense no favors.
Especially over the final stretch of games, it seemed like every time Pickett threw a pass more than 10 yards past the line of scrimmage, it was a fifty/fifty shot if it would be a catchable pass. For every decent pass, there was one that was wildly off the mark. This team has an up-and-coming premier threat in George Pickens at the helm. Pickett will need to be better at those passes.
The deep accuracy isn’t all that surprising considering Pickett’s arm strength isn’t anything special. He doesn’t have the proverbial cannon of an arm others are blessed with. That hasn’t stopped the likes of Joe Burrow from succeeding. That said, Burrow is extremely accurate, and that is something Pickett will have to get to.
As well, Pickett was awful at progressing through reads. More often than not, he would stare down his primary target and force the throw to them as opposed to progressing through his reads. This isn’t the end of the world; a lot of rookies struggle with this, but Pickett will need to show the ability to get through his reads and make the best decision with the ball.
My biggest issue with Pickett is that he never really ended up being a huge difference-maker for the team. Seeing him calm his game down and become a less turnover-prone quarterback was great, but he never had that amazing game where he took control of the offense and put up big stats.
No, stats aren’t everything, but Pickett only threw for over 200 yards in four games, and he never had multiple passing scores in one outing. While the run game became the focus of this offense down the stretch, it would have been nice to see Pickett carve a defense on occasion. Him lacking that one true star-studded game is a hard pill to swallow moving forward.
My final thoughts on Kenny Pickett
It was a very mixed season for the Steelers top draft pick. At times, he flashed an insane level of play that made him look like a legitimate franchise player. Other times, he was very mediocre and didn’t look like much more than an average player.
My issue is, Pickett was taken with this thought that he was pro-ready as a rookie. If he was pro-ready then this pick won’t pan out. That said, I think there is a legitimate path for him to have a long and successful career in the NFL. That said, I don’t think he ends up being a conventional top quarterback.
When the Steelers drafted Pickett, I saw a safe quarterback that will need a top team around him in order to succeed. Think of a prime Andy Dalton or even Derek Carr; someone that can hang around and start but needs an elite team to succeed.
After his rookie season, my view hasn’t really shifted. I don’t see Pickett as an elite quarterback that is going to be a difference-maker. I see an above-average player that can provide some consistency but won’t be a difference-maker long-term. I’m curious to see his progression in year two, as Pickett needs to come out swinging in order to change this idea.