There has been growing belief in the Pittsburgh Steelers across the NFL media industry. Quarterback Kenny Pickett has been a primary reason for that, as reports have suggested that he's improved a lot this offseason. He worked on a lot of different things with his quarterbacks coach, Tony Racioppi. Pickett even put some weight on, particularly muscle to ensure he can take hits from those beefy defensive linemen.
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The Steelers had some brutally tough matchups against former Ravens linebacker Bart Scott, as quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was constantly getting hit.
All of this led up to training camp, which the quarterback looked quite well in. Pickett was arguably the team's best offensive player for the duration of the two weeks in Latrobe. Still, there will always be naysayers out there. Add former Baltimore Ravens linebacker Bart Scott to that list. That shouldn't shock anyone, as if you know, Scott's always been a big Steelers hater.
Scott played for the Ravens from 2002-2008, the "prime" of the rivalry between the two AFC North sides. Still, ever since he got into the media industry, he's been unable to put his Steelers bias aside. Perhaps he's upset that the division rival got two Super Bowl trophies, while he retired without one. Scott did have some nice things to say about the black and gold, particularly wide receiver George Pickens, who has been getting a lot of buzz this summer.
"He [Pickens] has hands like DeAndre Hopkins, where he doesn't drop balls. One thing you can always count on with the Pittsburgh Steelers: they are going to draft a great receiver. You can go back to Santonio Holmes, Antonio Brown, Emmanuel Sanders, Hines Ward. He [Pickens] just fits right in. They know how to cultivate receivers. To watch Allen Robinson, who has been disappointing the last couple of seasons, become a star again," Scott said on Get Up.
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Despite the expectation that Steelers WR George Pickens will break out in 2023, NFL Madden 24 gave him just an 80 overall.
That's not the first time that Pickens has been compared to Hopkins. The two have very similar styles of game, as they rely on contested catches rather than route running or separation. With that, their hands are known to be strengths of their game. Steelers cornerback Patrick Peterson first made the comparison between the two, and people have began to use that more and more now.
The ESPN analyst wasn't too kind to Pickett in a slew of comments on ESPN's morning show, Get Up. While he thinks he's in the perfect scenario to succeed, Scott views the second-year quarterback as the weak link of the Steelers ahead of the 2023 campaign.
"Kenny Pickett is set up for success. I don't know if they get into the playoffs, just because I think that the other teams are ahead in the process. I think the weak link will eventually be the quarterback. Listen, they're going to be right there. We know that Mike Tomlin doesn't have losing seasons. You know if they're going to do that, Pickens is going to be a big part of that success."
It wasn't all negativity from Scott, as he actually did offer some promising insight. To be brutally honest, quarterback was a weak link for the team in 2022. Mitch Trubisky had a lot to do with that, as the offense couldn't get anything going with him in the first four weeks of the season. Pickett came in and brought some energy, but it still wasn't smooth sailing for the offense.
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Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin somehow kept his impressive above-.500 streak intact in 2022, despite struggles from the quarterback position.
Overall, the rave reviews for Pickens continue as well. Fellow ESPN analyst Bill Barnwell followed up Scott's comments with even more praise for the playmaker. He thinks Pickens has the potential to become a top-five wideout in the NFL. If you hadn't head, former Steelers safety Ryan Clark has gotten some flak over the past few days for saying Pickens is more talented than Justin Jefferson.
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Jefferson has been elite in all three seasons with the Minnesota Vikings and is now regarded as the best wideout in the NFL. As a result, people didn't exactly like those comments by Clark. Still, it's all meant as praise toward Pickens, who has the ability to make any possible catch. There aren't many non-believers of Pickett out there, but it seems the former Raven is one of them.
What are your thoughts on these comments by Scott? Are you at all concerned about Pickett not taking that expected step forward in 2023? Do you agree with the Pickens/Hopkins comparisons? Share your thoughts in the comment section below, as well as on our social media sites, yinz!
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