The Pittsburgh Steelers came into the 2022 NFL season, and the post-Ben Roethlisberger era, with what D. Boon and the Minutemen might have called a 3-Way Tie (For Last). At quarterback, Mike Tomlin had veterans Mason Rudolph and Mitch Trubisky, and rookie Kenny Pickett, selected with the 20th overall pick out of Pitt. Rudolph and Trubisky hadn’t proven much in their professional careers, and Pickett hadn’t yet had time to prove much of anything, so Steelers fans could be forgiven for being just a bit nervous about the game’s most important position.
But Pickett did manage to rise above against the Seattle Seahawks in the Steelers’ first game of the preseason, completing 13 of 15 passes for 95 yards and two touchdowns — including the game-winner in a 32-25 victory as the clock expired on this 24-yarder to receiver Tyler Vaughns.
If you're wondering what Kenny Pickett was probably thinking on the TD throw to Tyler Vaughns.
Saw the high safety, saw how far the CBs were back, saw the inside leverage on Vaughns, and immediately thought Cover 3.
Great poise and the pre-snap processing was there here. pic.twitter.com/mnbEKMTLUZ
— Nick Farabaugh (@FarabaughFB) August 14, 2022
That said, Pickett was doing his damage against backups from a Seattle defense that would not be mistaken by anybody for the Legion of Boom. The next challenge for Pickett would be Pittsburgh’s Saturday game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Trubisky started the game, but Lawrence came in with six minutes left in the first half, and he wanted no time making the quarterback battle as competitive as possible.
Pickett’s bang-bang touchdown drive, which started with 1:05 left in the first half and at his own 37-yard line, was as much of a statement as a rookie quarterback can make. Pickett completed all four of his passes for 63 yards, and put the Steelers on the board for the first time in the game. Moreover, he did so against Jacksonville’s starting defense — there were no easy reps here.
Pickett started with a timing and rhythm slant to Diontae Johnson, which was almost for a lot more than the 17-yard play it was.
Johnson got caught by his shoelace on this one pic.twitter.com/YnYOQNIyGQ
— Laurie Fitzpatrick (@LaurieFitzptrck) August 21, 2022
Then, this quick pass to tight end Pat Freiermuth for a first down to the Jacksonville 35-yard line.
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) August 21, 2022
Then, another pass to Freiermuth — this time, a 24-yard play to the Jacksonville 11-yard line, and Pickett let this one go under extreme pressure.
Kenny Pickett MAXIMIZED his “Varsity” Reps pic.twitter.com/76HmYGShCT
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) August 21, 2022
Pickett’s fist touchdown pass actually wasn’t, due to offsetting penalties, but it was still an impressive throw.
This was called back (for holding as a result of the offside) but Kenny Pickett held strong to find Diontae Johnson for six after a smooth two-minute drill. (The Steelers scored for real on the next play.) pic.twitter.com/lPGr9dMbL7
— Seven Rounds in Heaven (@7RoundsInHeaven) August 21, 2022
And finally, his 11-yard touchdown pass to running back Benny Snell with 29 seconds left in the first half.
Kenny Pickett to Benny Snell for the TD 👀
Pickett’s stats so far…
• 7/8
• 76 yards
• 1 TD— NFL Stats (@NFL_Stats) August 21, 2022
The Steelers put Rudolph in for the third quarter; we’re assuming that Pickett had proven all he needed to.
“All three of these guys have performed well,” Tomlin said about his plan to have all three quarterbacks play in this game. “I really think the main emphasis and the mentality regarding how we structured it this week is that we simply want to see Kenny in more varsity action.”
Well, as RGIII said, Pickett did maximize his varsity reps. What that means for his future status is up in the air, but he’s been very impressive so far.
