The Kenny Pickett offseason hype train continues to chug along the Rust Belt.
After a rough-and-tumble rookie campaign, the Pittsburgh Steelers signal-caller has received praise for his development heading into Year 2. Pickett has backed the camp applause with impressive preseason performances.
Not that the QB cares about that.
"It is preseason, man," Pickett said on Monday, . "Nothing counts, so it is kind of easy to remain motivated because we haven't done anything yet. Everybody understands that."
It doesn't count, but it sure can confirm our priors.
Pickett started 12 games as a rookie, completing 63 percent of his passes for 2,404 yards and seven touchdowns with nine interceptions. There were some flashes of brilliance, particularly his mettle late in games, but the Steelers' offense as a whole was an inefficient mess with few big plays in 2022.
The only first-round QB in 2022, Pickett has taken the reins this offseason, showing poise, a better understanding of the offense, more quickness getting through reads and better rapport with his receivers. All these should have been expected for a first-rounder entering Year 2 -- but it's nice to see it play out that way.
In three preseason drives, Pickett has helped lead three scores, completing 9 of 11 passes for 113 yards and two TDs while generating a 149.1 passer rating.
"I am not going to lie, it's been good," Pickett said. "We have been keeping (the offense) basic, but we just want to keep executing the offense at the level we are. We just want to continue to do that until we get the full playbook. We have been very vanilla, and we are going to do that until it is time to go. We understand it is just the preseason."
The Steelers kick off the regular season on Sept. 10 against the San Francisco 49ers. If Pickett dices up that defense, then we can talk.
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