There's no bigger question among the Pittsburgh Steelers fanbase right now than Kenny Pickett. When Kevin Colbert took him with his last-ever first-round pick in 2022, many fans thought the selection was a reach or that Pittsburgh should have waited until the following year to address the QB position.
One thing that had fans worried was his lack of elite arm talent. Pickett had an excellent season at Pitt in 2021 prior to being drafted, and his mobility was never in question. However, fans thought he had a below-average arm by NFL standards. In theory, this would make it hard to go toe-to-toe with some of the best AFC quarterbacks in the league like Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Justin Herbert.
Pickett is trying to put any questions about his small hands and average arm talent to rest. This offseason, the Steelers quarterback has been training diligently to ensure that he has a breakout season in year two. For most of the offseason, he has been working with personal QB coach Tony Racioppi in an effort to hone in on his craft. His hard work is apparently paying off.
Recently, Adam Caplan of Pro Football Network said that a source close to the situation believes Kenny Pickett's arm looks noticeably stronger this year.
"And Pickett’s arm, a source with knowledge of the situation said, looked noticeably stronger during their OTA practices."Adam Caplan, via Pro Football Network
Fans would probably tend to agree. While it's hard to gauge arm strength on the practice field in shorts, Pickett has clearly been working on his deep ball and velocity this offseason. Here are some videos posted by Racioppi. You be the judge:
Another great week of work with Pittsburgh Steelers QB Kenny Pickett in Pittsburgh. Camp ready after a great offseason of hard work and goal driven workouts. Footwork, fundamentals, throwing sequence and routes on air with married drop. @steelers pic.twitter.com/ummuQQqEkY
— Tony Racioppi (@Tonyrazz03) July 18, 2023
What would Pickett improvement mean for Steelers?
One thing is for sure: Kenny Pickett is clearly putting the work in this summer. Now with Steelers training camp starting, it will be interesting to see where he looks compared to his first training camp last year.
Pickett will be aided by working with the first-team offense from the gate and building more chemistry with his wide receivers. Even if he proves to add just a bit more velocity and arm strength to his game in 2023, that could prove to go a long way.
If Pickett's arm strength has really improved, this would be great news for the Steelers. This was a team that already finished 7-2 down the stretch and narrowly missed the playoffs. Obviously, Pickett will be much more comfortable with the playbook this year, and the added zip on the ball could be enough to get Pittsburgh out of some tight spots.
We all hope to see a successful season from Pickett in year two. Perhaps his hard work and dedication to his craft will pay off. He certainly doesn't lack leadership or motivation, and as long as his arm talent doesn't hold him back, we see no reason to think that he won't have a breakout season in 2023.