\n2 Related<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n
“With Kenny in there, we were able to be the aggressor,” tight end Pat Freiermuth said Monday. “Obviously, some mistakes are gonna happen, some tipped balls and all that kind of stuff, but we have to continue to work past that and be there for Kenny, especially since he’s a young guy.”<\/p>\n
In his regular-season debut, Pickett averaged 9.2 yards per attempt and 13.2 air yards per attempt, well above Trubisky’s season averages of 5.6 yards per attempt and 9.9 air yards per attempt.<\/p>\n
Prior to entering Sunday’s game, Pickett hadn’t worked with the first-team offense since the preseason, but the Pitt product impressed his teammates with his calm, confident demeanor in the huddle and attitude on the field. Perhaps his most impressive throw came as he completed an 18-yard pass to Freiermuth over the middle on third-and-long as Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams flew unblocked toward him. Pickett got the throw off with pressure in his face and smiled at Williams as he got up from the field.<\/p>\n
“He played with swagger,” wide receiver Diontae Johnson said. “When he comes in the huddle, he demands like, ‘Huddle up, come in, listen.’ Everybody respects him. He’s a great player, and he’s young, he’s going to continue to learn and develop. It’s our job to make him look good and help him stay comfortable while he’s out there.”<\/p>\n
Pickett, 24, was the first first-round quarterback selected by the Steelers since the organization picked Ben Roethlisberger in 2004.<\/p>\n
The Steelers (1-3) drafted Pickett 20th overall with the intention of eventually making him the franchise quarterback, but he entered the preseason as the No. 3 quarterback on the depth chart behind Trubisky — who was signed in free agency — and longtime backup Mason Rudolph.<\/p>\n
Pickett struggled in the early weeks of camp but hit his stride in the first preseason game, when he completed 13 of 15 attempts for 95 yards with two touchdowns — including a game-winning drive against the Seattle Seahawks. He finished the preseason with an 80.6 completion percentage and averaged 7.3 yards per attempt.<\/p>\n
The Steelers, though, were resolute in starting Trubisky because of his veteran experience and leadership, and the team even voted him a captain.<\/p>\n
Trubisky and the offense struggled through the first 3 1\/2 weeks, and their offensive output hovered near the bottom of the league as they averaged 18 points per game.<\/p>\n
Though Tomlin preached patience and pointed to encouraging signs of offensive improvement after the Thursday night loss to the Jets, he ultimately opted to insert his rookie at halftime of the game, and now, he’s sticking with him.<\/p>\n
“I think [I have] a little bit of an edge to me,” Pickett said. “I want that to rub off on everybody. I want us to have an attitude when it’s out there on the field. I’m excited to get back to work, get us back on track.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PITTSBURGH — The Kenny Pickett era is officially here. The Pittsburgh Steelers listed their 2022 first-round pick as the starter on the depth chart for Sunday’s game at the Buffalo Bills. Pickett will be the first rookie quarterback to start for the team since undrafted free agent Devlin Hodges started six games in the 2019 …<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh Steelers list rookie Kenny Pickett atop quarterback depth chart<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[6],"tags":[12500,12501,46,423,6855],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":28403,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/mitch-trubisky-kenny-pickett-joined-by-wags-at-steelers-camp\/","url_meta":{"origin":86864,"position":0},"title":"Mitch Trubisky, Kenny Pickett joined by WAGs at Steelers camp","date":"July 28, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The first day of practice at Steelers training camp turned into a family affair for quarterback Mitch Trubisky. As practice got underway Wednesday at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, Trubisky was treated to a visit by his two favorite fans: wife Hillary and their newborn son, Hudson David. \u201cYear\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","img":{"alt_text":"Steelers quarterback Mitch Trubisky with wife Hillary and their son Hudson at training camp.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/trubsiky-5.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":86162,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/report-kenny-pickett-becomes-the-new-qb1-in-pittsburgh\/","url_meta":{"origin":86864,"position":1},"title":"Report: Kenny Pickett becomes the new QB1 in Pittsburgh","date":"October 4, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"\r \r \r Getty Images After benching starting quarterback Mitch Trubisky for rookie Kenny Pickett in an eventual loss to the Jets, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin wouldn't say whether Pickett would start the Week Five game at Buffalo.Pickett reportedly will.Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that the Steelers are expected\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","img":{"alt_text":"New York Jets v Pittsburgh Steelers","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/profootballtalk.nbcsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2022\/10\/GettyImages-1429710779-e1664838807811.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":46889,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/marcus-spears-speaks-highly-of-kenny-pickett-hell-be-the-future-of-pittsburgh\/","url_meta":{"origin":86864,"position":2},"title":"Marcus Spears Speaks Highly Of Kenny Pickett: ‘He’ll Be The Future Of Pittsburgh’","date":"August 16, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"On ESPN's NFL Live today, analyst Marcus Spears spoke highly of rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett and said he believes Pickett will eventually pass Mitch Trubisky as Pittsburgh's starter. \u201cI still think Trubisky has a hold on the job, but obviously, it's a place setter for Kenny Pickett,\u201d Spears said. \u201cMike\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":68063,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/mike-tomlin-blames-cut-and-paste-for-steelers-qb-depth-chart-mix-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":86864,"position":3},"title":"Mike Tomlin blames ‘cut and paste’ for Steelers’ QB depth chart mix-up","date":"September 6, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The Steelers made a dreaded \u201cclerical error\u201d when they listed their quarterback depth chart on Monday. That's according to head coach Mike Tomlin, who clarified the situation on who will be backing up Mitchell Trubisky for the season opener against the Bengals on Sunday. Where the depth chart originally listed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69591,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/not-used-to-being-a-backup-kenny-pickett-willing-to-do-all-he-can-for-steelers-as-qb2\/","url_meta":{"origin":86864,"position":4},"title":"Not used to being a backup, Kenny Pickett willing to do all he can for Steelers’ as QB2","date":"September 8, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Since he was a young boy, Kenny Pickett has spent exactly 11 weeks of his life as a backup quarterback. Until Sunday, when he will be the No. 2 for the Pittsburgh Steelers in their season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals. The only other time \u2014 presumably, ever in Pickett's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/a2.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=\/photo\/2022\/1002\/r1070082_1296x729_16-9.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86864"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86864\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}