The Pittsburgh Steelers made a game-changing move in the early stages of the 2022 season. That move was making the decision to play rookie quarterback, Kenny Pickett during the Steelers Week 4 home game against the New York Jets. Pickett would take over the starting role following that game. Since then, Pickett began to prove himself as a quality starting quarterback in the NFL. Pickett’s ability to continuously increase his level of play each week came as a surprise for many, including one of the players on the Steelers defense.
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Steelers Practice Became Pickett’s Proving Ground
On Wednesday, Steelers defensive lineman, Cam Heyward was in Phoenix for the 2022 Pro Bowl Games. During his time there, Heyward sat down for an interview with 93.7 The Fan’s The PM Show W/ Poni and Mueller where they discussed a plethora of topics, including the growth and development of Kenny Pickett. Heyward said that Pickett was taking strides early on in order to prepare himself for the time when he would officially take the field:
“At the beginning of the season when he wasn’t playing, and the amount of study time he had was pretty monumental.”
Heyward also mentioned that Pickett really started to blossom during practice. He expressed the old “practice makes perfect” adage when detailing what went down in the two-minute drill:
“I’ll never forget a two-minute drive we had during practice one time,” Heyward said. “I’m like ‘Ok, they’re moving the drive in practice.' But we got ‘em at like, a fourth down, and I can’t even remember who caught it. But you could just sense the leadership he had in getting everybody and just being a conductor and moving things down the field. It’s those moments.”
Being a good leader is always important, and it seems that Pickett is transforming into one. Heyward could see it occurring the more time he spent with the young quarterback in practice:
“And then when you just got to really interact with Kenny, and you start to see, ‘Hey, we’re doing this. What am I looking for?’ The questions he started to ask felt like, ‘Oh, this isn’t elementary anymore. You’re starting to get it.’ And so, when you start to see those moments, you start to see he’s starting to click.”
Pickett’s Progress Analyzed
While Pickett’s teammates have shared their stories of his work ethic and leadership qualities, one has to wonder what it all translates to on the field. Starting from the midway point of the Jets game, all the way through the rest of the season, Pickett’s stat line doesn’t jump off the page as much as Steelers fans would like.
In his rookie season, Pickett struggled early on, but was able to turn the corner after the bye week. In total, Pickett had 2,641 offensive yards, (2,404 passing yards and 237 rushing yards). Pickett ended the year with seven touchdowns while throwing nine interceptions. He also had a 63 percent completion percentage, completing 245 of his 389 passing attempts. While these numbers appear good in theory, what do they mean in terms of wins and losses?
Jordan Schofield
So far, in games Pickett has participated in, his record stands at 7-6. This includes the Jets game as well as the Steelers home game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 6 and the Week 14 matchup versus the Baltimore Ravens where Pickett left both games due to a concussion. Pickett not playing the entire game on multiple occasions does bring up some questions that many Steelers fans have probably thought of at some point this year.
If a combination of Mitch Trubisky and Pickett led the team to a 9-8 record, what would the team’s record look like if Pickett started the whole season? By extension, would Pickett have been able to defeat the Jets, Buccaneers, and Ravens if he played the whole game? And lastly, would that have been enough for a postseason berth?
The answers to these questions will be left to the imagination, but we do have an answer to one question. Many were clamoring for the Steelers to draft Malik Willis over Pickett, and thought Willis was the better prospect. Pickett has come in and proven the naysayers wrong so far by winning over his teammates, his coaches, the front office, and most importantly the fans. I believe its safe to say that the Steelers officially have “their guy” in Kenny Pickett.
Do you feel Kenny Pickett is “the guy” for the Steelers future? Let us know in the comment section or on social media.
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