It's here. The Pittsburgh Steelers are piling into Latrobe in preparation for training camp. Around the league, the expectations are a bit of a mixed bag. Oddsmakers have the Steelers with the lowest odds to win the AFC North, which would put them in a last-place finish behind its rivals. Nowadays, air-raid offenses rule the NFL. While the Steelers have built a strong defense, at the end of the day, everything comes down to the quarterback position.
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Recent reports suggest that Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett has improved tremendously this offseason, leaving high hopes for the 2023 campaign.
The team's emphasis on continuing to invest top-notch money into the defense recently caught criticism from Fox Sports' Colin Cowherd. All of this puts a ton of pressure on a guy entering his second season in the NFL in Kenny Pickett. It'll be his first full season as the starter, as Mitch Trubisky headed the offense to start the 2022 campaign. A constant criticism surrounding the offense the past few seasons has been offensive coordinator, Matt Canada.
Canada enters the final year of his contract, and he'll need to significantly turn things around if he wants to remain in Pittsburgh beyond 2023. In 2022, he didn't let the veteran Trubisky or the rookie Pickett have much control within the offense. On Wednesday in Latrobe, Pickett spoke via Jeff Hathhorn of 93.7 The Fan about some changes that the offense has made the past few weeks. It seems as if the quarterback will have more control in the offense in 2023.
"I think I was a part of a good process of adding some things [to the offense] this offseason. During spring, taking some things away that we didn't like and going back and watching the tape. So I feel like I've been apart of those conversations, so I think definitely when the game plan starts coming around, I'll have an input as well," Pickett said via Hathhorn.
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Questions surrounded whether either Steelers quarterback, Kenny Pickett or Mitch Trubisky, were able to audible out of plays during the 2022 season.
On the most recent episode of the All Things Covered podcast, former Steelers DB Bryant McFadden said the No. 1 thing he'll be watching at training camp is the dynamic between Canada and Pickett. Again, just a year ago, Canada didn't allow either of his QBs to have much control. In his first season as offensive coordinator, Ben Roethlisberger was still the quarterback.
Where will Steelers offense improve the most in 2023?
Canada didn't get much say in 2021, as Roethlisberger had obviously established the offense already in Pittsburgh. This hopefully means Pickett will be able to audible out of plays pre-snap. The quarterback doesn't only want to improve the passing game, but also the ground attack. That means more consistent, better looks for running back Najee Harris.
"We need balance. I think that's the key to success in this league. You can't be one-dimensional. I'm excited to see what that looks like and push the ball down the field and hand it off to Najee and see what he can do. I know he's been working really hard, so I think we've got a really good, balanced team this year. That's what I wanna see," Pickett said.
-544x306.jpg "Steelers Najee Harris")
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Steelers QB Kenny Pickett isn't the only one with big expectations in 2023, as RB Najee Harris will be expected to step up with an improved offensive line.
Balance. It's something the Steelers offense really hasn't mastered over the past few seasons. The running game has struggled in particular, hence why the front office invested heavily in the offensive line this offseason.
Do you think Canada will help improve the offense in 2023? What does he have to do in order to keep his job beyond this season? Will opening up the offense help Pickett make more off-script plays? Share your thoughts in the comment section below, yinz!
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