NFL NFL Draft Pittsburgh Steelers
Kenny Pickett Tagged with Undesirable Label By ESPN Analyst
Kenny Pickett was an iffy first-round draft choice at the time. Compared to some of his peers, ESPN’s Matt Miller sees the former Pitt quarterback as an indictment on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ NFL Draft decisions.
Miller ranked each of the 19 passers taken in the first round since 2020. He also included Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and Miami’s Cam Ward, who will likely go as high this April. Pickett was at the foot of that list, which was put together using a poll of scouts, decision-makers, and analysts. The only criteria used were pre-draft grades.
“The opinions on Pickett were mixed when asking evaluators to grade his game,” Miller wrote Saturday. “He ended up being the only quarterback taken in the first round of a weak 2022 class, and the only one drafted in the first 73 picks (the best 2022 QB, Purdy, was selected with the final pick of the draft). Pickett threw 42 touchdown passes during his final season at Pitt, but he also lacked arm strength.
“He completed only 63% of his throws and threw nine interceptions over 13 games as a rookie. Pickett wasn’t able to establish himself as the long-term answer in Pittsburgh, losing his starting job in 2023 before getting traded to the Eagles in 2024.”
Revisiting why the Steelers took Kenny Pickett
As Miller mentioned, Kenny Pickett’s class of signal-callers was noticeably lacking. The Steelers selected Pickett at No. 20 overall, and the next quarterback was taken in the third round. Outgoing general manager Kevin Colbert wanted an immediate replacement for the recently retired Ben Roethlisberger.
“I think that obviously it’s disappointing that Kenny didn’t work out to be our long-term quarterback here,” Steelers president Art Rooney II said in January. “I’m not sure there’s a lot to be learned from that. We just have to look at the next opportunity and make sure we do a good job evaluating it.”