Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett suffered a pair of concussions in his first year in the NFL and the team will want to examine every possible avenue to ensure that its signal-caller of the future is protected. One potential new option for 2023 will be a helmet designed to prevent head injuries, specifically for quarterbacks.
Jordan Schofield/SteelerNation (@JSKO_PHOTO Twitter)
Steelers' Kenny Pickett (#8) runs for a first down against the New York Jets in Pittsburgh, PA.
The latest helmet called the Zero2 Matrix QB was developed by VICIS, a company that specializes in sports equipment with a focus on player safety. NFL.com senior national columnist Judy Battista reported that its approval for next year comes at an opportune time after a league-wide 18% increase in concussions, which has largely been chalked up to the rise of those suffered by quarterbacks.
The results of testing designed to simulate head-to-ground contact according to Dr. Ann Bailey Good, an engineer for Bicore, who conducted the lab tests, the Zero2 Matrix QB performed 7% better than the most used headgear by quarterbacks in 2022. That type of contact is a huge part of the rise in concussions at the position according to Jeff Miller, the NFL's executive vice president of communications, public affairs, and policy.
"The thing that distinguishes quarterbacks and their concussions is they have a disproportionate number of head-to-ground impacts that cause concussions," said Miller via Battista. "This past year we had an increase in the number of quarterback concussions, and it was the same helmet-to-ground dynamic. Many people would say it's because quarterbacks are scrambling more often, but we didn't see that. It was still the quarterback in the pocket, getting hit and the head hitting the ground as they were holding onto the ball."
Will Steelers' QB Kenny Pickett Be An Early Adopter?
The long-awaited helmet designed specifically to protect QB heads when they hit the ground is available, promising better impact mitigation than a regular helmet. Will players wear it? We'll see. Only a handful of players wore linemen-specific helmets that were available in 2022. https://t.co/xvqH92gabx
— Judy Battista (@judybattista) April 13, 2023
Riddell
Steelers QB Kenny Pickett switched to the Riddell Axiom with a visor designed to improve impact response and reduce head impact exposure.
Battista wondered how many quarterbacks will be open to swapping their current buckets for the new-fangled one that's supposed to protect them better after not many linemen made the switch last year when the model for them was approved for use in the league. Players love what they're used to, we all remember the debacle over helmets when Antonio Brown was traded to the Oakland Raiders and wanted to use the helmet model he'd had since high school despite it having been discontinued in 2014.
Matt Freed / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Steelers Kenny Pickett and Pat Freiermuth have both struggled with concussions early in their careers and have tried different helmets to try to mitigate suffering from another one.
History tends to be the best indicator of future behavior and Pickett has shown an active interest in making the best decisions to try and protect himself. During the season, he switched to the Riddell Axiom helmet something tight end Pat Freiermuth had also done when he suffered a pair of concussions in 2021.
Part of the reason not many players have made the switch to the Riddell helmet designed to reduce head injuries was, according to Mark Kaboly of The Athletic, they didn't like the look of it.
The Zero2 Matrix QB helmet doesn't look any different than any other from the outside but the technology inside, according to Jason Neubauer, the company's vice president of product development, has shown a more than 20% improvement in impact mitigation for helmet-to-ground hits compared with the company's standard helmet that is designed to mitigate helmet-to-helmet impacts.
