Kenny Pickett sets 3 massive career milestones in Steelers win vs. Raiders

2. Kenny Pickett sets career high in yards per attempt

Yards per attempt is typically one of the best indicators of which quarterbacks are performing well around the NFL. Oftentimes, a higher yards per attempt average means that quarterbacks are more willing to take shots down the field and can make big-time throws, while poor yards per attempt can often be attributed to dinking and dunking the ball down underneath.

For most of his career to date, Pickett fell in the latter category, and there were some serious concerns entering 2023 about his poor yards per attempt and adjusted yards per attempt. Fortunately, he's starting to put some of that to rest.

Since becoming a starter in Week 4 last year against the Buffalo Bills, Pickett never had a game in which he recorded more than 7.0 yards per attempt until Week 2 of his second season against the Browns (7.4 yards per attempt). However, the sample of play was overall pretty poor against Cleveland. In Week 3, however, he set a new career high with an impressive 8.4 yards per attempt.

Technically, Pickett did earn 9.2 yards per attempt in his very first NFL action against the Jets as a rookie, but he did not start this game and had just 13 passing attempts in the second half as the Steelers tried to play come-from-behind football. This new yards-per-attempt milestone that we just witnessed is important, and the hope is that Pickett can continue to look downfield to maximize the potential upside of this offense.