Kenny Pickett Looks Sensational in Preseason

ATLANTA — Kenny Pickett might be making that leap. The second-year quarterback stands out as one of the NFL’s premier performers thus far in the preseason. All the comparisons are daunting already, which can put pressure on a quarterback. But Kenny Pickett takes it all in stride. The one particular place that Pickett’s game is taking a big step is his ball placement. He seems to have a more deadeye-accurate arm. He feels like the preseason showcased his ball placement well.

“I think it went well. I feel like we moved the ball well, we had explosive plays in the pass game and the balance is there,” Pickett said. “That’s what we’re looking for. Our receivers did a really good job of getting yards after the catch, which was a point of emphasis that we had coming into this season. So, I think we’ve improved on a lot of things, obviously we have a long season ahead. We have some great teams coming up, but I think we’re in a step in the right direction after having this preseason.” 

So, where does all of that come from anyway? Part of it is engaging the core and hips better for Pickett, and I’m sure some of it is the added upper body bulk he added. Regardless, the improvement that Pickett is seeing goes with the offense’s improvement down the field and in the explosive play categories.

Mike Tomlin notices what he sees in Pickett, too. Some of it is ball placement, and some of it is the intangibles. Pocket management and processing across his reads are two other traits Pickett is showing growth at during his two preseason outings. All of that combines for a player who simply looks more comfortable at the NFL level in his second year.

“I think the growth is probably associated with being him and not necessarily the surface level things associated with the position, but the leadership things, the communication things, the bringing people together things,” Tomlin said. “When you have a high level of comfort in terms of what it is you’re doing, then those things probably happen more and so, that is significant. It’s not play-related, but it is because he is the catalyst for their unit. He controls the pace and the tenor of that unit and I just think that if he’s comfortable, that unit has an opportunity to be comfortable. I think that’s probably the most significant difference.” 

Does the growth translate to the regular season? That is now what Pickett must answer when he takes the field in the regular season. It can not be lightning in a bottle, but it must be a sustained charge that showcases Pickett can be the next franchise quarterback for the Steelers. That comes with taking everything daily and rep by rep since Pickett still includes new attributes into his skill set. The pocket management part, in particular, can be feeble if there is a lack of trust upfront. However, Pickett needs to develop those good habits and carry that momentum forward to continue to stack upon that.

Alan Saunders contributed reporting from Atlanta.