The Pittsburgh Steelers are currently going through their worst season record-wise since at least 2003, and maybe longer depending on how this season ends. The final record could matter less to many people in Steeler Nation depending on the progression of one player for the rest of the 2022 NFL season.
Steelers' QB Kenny Pickett | Photo Credit: Jordan Schofield/SteelerNation (JSKO_PHOTO Twitter)
In the 2022 NFL Draft, the Steelers decided to roll the dice and select a QB in the first round when they called Kenny Pickett's name over the microphone in Paradise, Nevada.
Since being selected, Pickett became the starter in Week 5 and has been the team's starter ever since. It is clear the Steelers are now committed to seeing what they have in Pickett, for better or for worse, especially now that the team's chances of making the playoffs appear to be dead in the water. However, the team is starting to come together in certain areas which could lead to accumulating more wins than expected the rest of the way.
The defense is finally back to full strength now that T.J. Watt and Damontae Kazee have returned from the injured list, which is obviously great news for the defense as a whole, but it is also tremendous news for the offense the rest of the season. While both Watt and Kazee were out the Steelers ended up getting behind often, which lead them to likely throw the ball more than the game plan going in would've suggested. Now, the offense can be more balanced, which they were the last two weeks.
Steelers Defense Needs To Keep The Game Within Reach
If the Steelers want to continue to develop Pickett properly, they can't continue to ask him to throw the ball 40+ times and risk putting him in positions to make unnecessary mistakes. For comparison, Pickett is on pace to throw more passes in just his eighth start than future Hall of Fame QB Ben Roethlisberger threw across 13 starts in his rookie season.
Now, I know those are two completely different situations. The NFL has changed significantly since Roethlisberger's rookie season, and the Steelers went 15-1 that season, meaning they weren't trailing in many games causing them to throw the ball in catch-up mode. However, there are several other examples of how bringing a rookie QB along slowly and not asking them to do too much can provide significant dividends.
Steelers QB Kenny Pickett hands-off to RB Najee Harris | Photo Credit: Jordan Schofield/SteelerNation (JSKO_PHOTO Twitter)
Over the last two weeks in their matchups against the New Orleans Saints and Cincinnati Bengals, the Steelers have been significantly better at introducing some more balance into their offense and not relying on Pickett to carry the weight of the entire offense with his arm.
Starting with the Steelers' Week 10 win against the Saints, the team rushed for a total of 217 yards (51 by Pickett) and two touchdowns. The yards and scores are definitely nice to see, but the biggest takeaway is that the offense ran the ball a total of 43 times while Pickett only attempted 30 passes. The play calling is closer to 50/50 when you consider Pickett ran the ball eight times, mostly on scrambles that started as a designed pass play, but a balanced offense similar to the one against the Saints definitely proved to be beneficial to Pickett's play.
This trend helped Pickett also continue into their Week 11 against their division rival Bengals, and it helped them carry a lead into halftime and put up their highest point total of the season. They lost their balance a bit in the second half as the Bengals put up points in a hurry and the Steelers had to try and keep pace, but the blueprint for helping Pickett develop is there.
Pickett has done some good, encouraging, impressive stuff the last few weeks
— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) November 23, 2022
This is tough to teach 👇🏼 @steelers 👏 pic.twitter.com/MpwWixHdQr
A big part of this improved balance on offense has been the improved running of second-year RB Najee Harris, who struggled mightily throughout the first half of the season. Over the last two weeks, Harris accumulated 189 yards on the ground across 40 carries, which is an average of 4.73 yards per carry. Prior to these two games, Harris only topped the four YPC mark once this season, and that was a 4.11 mark against the New York Jets in Week 4.
Pickett has a chance to be the future of the Steelers. He has shown the confidence, physical ability and decision-making that shows he has the ability to be a franchise QB. The Steelers must do their best to help his development, and utilizing balanced play-calling from highly criticized offensive coordinator Matt Canada, as well as sustained improvement from Harris are the best ways to do that.
What are your thoughts on Pickett's development to this point? How do you think the Steelers can best help their rookie QB reach his full potential? Let us know in the comments below!
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