Kenny Pickett: “…getting drafted there [to Pittsburgh] would be unbelievable.”

Tuesday kicked off the 2022 Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama.  The Senior Bowl is an annual invite-only showcase opportunity for college seniors to work with NFL coaches and scouts to help bolster their draft stock.  Now that there is only the Super Bowl game left of the 2021 season, football fans are starting to turn their attention to the NFL Draft in April and the Senior Bowl is their first look at who is available.  Of course, Pittsburgh Steelers fans are no different.  With a laundry list of wants and needs going into the off-season, it is easy to get lost in the various names and who Steeler Nation could see getting selected in the draft.  But there is one name that all of Pittsburgh knows, including the Steelers, who may hear his name called with the 20^th selection in April.

That name is Kenny Pickett.

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Pickett was a four-year starter at the University of Pittsburgh where he made a name for himself in the 2019 season and continued his success through the 2021 season.  Pickett not only returned in 2021 to help improve his draft stock after a pedestrian 2020 season, but to also win an ACC championship; and he did just that.  Not only did Pickett lead the team to a Power 5 Conference championship, but his 4,319 passing yards and 42 touchdowns resulted in Pickett being elected as a Heisman Finalist.  Now that sights are set on the Senior Bowl, NFL Combine, and the 2022 NFL Draft, there is a lot of hope from Pittsburgh that Pickett returns to Heinz Field to begin the post-Ben Roethlisberger era.  So, what does Pickett think of that and if he’d like to return to Pittsburgh as an NFL quarterback?  Well, Pickett talked about that on Tuesday:

“The possibility of getting drafted there would be unbelievable,” he proclaimed.  “Pittsburgh is really my second home, so that would kind of be a dream.  It started when I got recruited to Pitt and maybe at the next level.  We’ll see what happens.”

The Pitt football team and Steelers share the UPMC Sports Performance Complex for their training and practices.  With this, not only do the younger college players get to meet some of the Steelers players and coaches, but the Steelers coaches and scouts get early looks at potential stars who are working towards an NFL career.  Pickett highlighted how beneficial that experience was for his development and NFL preparation:

“We see how they go about their business, how they work, go through their walkthroughs, how professional they are.”  Pickett continued by saying, “As a young kid coming into Pitt, freshmen and sophomores can see how things are supposed to be done on their practice field.”

In addition to the players, the coaching staffs also collaborate in their respective efforts.  Steelers’ offensive coordinator Matt Canada worked with Pickett early in his collegiate career and Pickett’s college offensive coordinator, Mark Whipple, was pivotal in Roethlisberger’s historic rookie season in 2004 as the Quarterback Coach for the Steelers.  With so much NFL influence Pickett has received at an early level, he talked about what he learned during his time at Pitt:

“I’m obviously very familiar with Coach Canada as well.  He recruited me to Pitt.  So I have a great relationship with them [Mike Tomlin and Canada].”  Pickett went on to say, “Obviously Ben’s a Hall of Famer.  He had an unbelievable career.  He was coached by Coach Whipple, which is pretty cool to be coached by Coach Whip who had Ben and then I got to learn from him. A lot of the things he taught Ben, he was teaching me in these past three seasons at Pitt.”

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For the older generations, seeing a top-ranked quarterback out of Pitt who may be available for the Steelers in the draft brings back memories of Dan Marino in 1983.  The Steelers passed on Marino in favor of defensive tackle Gabriel Rivera and fans today are hoping to avoid any déjà vu this go-around.  With the Senior Bowl set to kick off on Saturday, a lot of eyes are going to be on Pickett and if he can appreciate his draft stock.

As we get closer to the 2022 NFL Draft, we will be releasing draft profiles of players to watch for the Steelers.  Stay tuned!

Do you think the Steelers should draft Pickett with the 20^th selection?  Who do you want to see under center in Pittsburgh in 2022?  Let us know in the comments!

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