T.J. Watt recently spoke with Peter King at Radio Row, and he didn’t have enough kind words to say about Steelers rookies George Pickens and Kenny Pickett.
With the Super Bowl on the horizon, many current and former NFL players made their way to Arizona for Radio Row. Among them was Pittsburgh Steelers star, T.J. Watt. The 2021 Defensive Player of the year talked with many in the media and was interviewed multiple times. One of these interviews came from NBC Sports’ Peter King.
King drilled Watt with a number of questions ranging from the Super Bowl itself, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and the state of his team. However, early in the interview, Watt was asked about what he saw from rookies Kenny Pickett and George Pickens. Here’s what he said:
"“Guys that came to work everyday and worked hard. George Pickens is one of those guys that’s like I don’t if he really understands how good he is. It’s like ‘holy cow’. Some of the things that you see in practice. But it’s also, on top of that, it’s the little things. Finishing plays; running. He can run for days. “"
Watt clearly was impressed with what the 21-year-old receiver was able to do during his first NFL season, and he noted how impressive Pickens was even during practice.
After praising Pickens, Watt couldn’t speak highly enough of Steelers QB Kenny Pickett.
"“Kenny Pickett, getting better each and every week. Commanding two-minute drills back in training camp. You can just see the progression, then you come to the Ravens game down the stretch where he was able to lead the team down the field. We just had a feeling that we’re going to score this, we’re going to get on defense, and we’re going to win this game. So it’s just little things like that that it’s all about gaining repsect through teammates, through work, and those guys came to work every day.”"
Obviously, Watt wasn’t about to say anything negative about his young teammates, but his praise for Pickens and Pickett certainly seemed genuine, and Watt is excited about what the future could hold.
Steelers have a solid nucleus
While there are ranging opinions on Kenny Pickett, T.J. Watt seems to think that he’s the real deal. He reiterated this in other interviews leading up to the Super Bowl. Pickett struggled early in his rookie season, before leading his team to a 7-2 record since the bye week.
If Pickett and Pickens turn out to be as good as Watt believes they will be, the Super Bowl window for the Steelers could open up sooner than expected. At the very least, it’s encouraging to note that this team is starting to build a solid young nucleus to their roster after last year’s draft class. Pickett and Pickens have the potential to be leading this offense for a long time — assuming they can continue to improve.
The good news is that it shouldn’t stop here. Pittsburgh has some excellent draft capital this year, and they could potentially find some cornerstone players with picks 17, 33, and 50 in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Watt believes that the window to compete for a championship starts now. If Pittsbugh’s young offense can make strides, perhaps that can be the case.