Kenny Pickett said he doesn’t think about his position on the Steelers’ depth chart. If that’s true, he’s the only one in Steelers Nation not thinking about it.
Pickett showed again that the lights aren’t too bright, and the stage isn’t too big in the NFL.
In two preseason games, the rookie is 19-of-22 for 171 yards and three touchdowns. It appears a given he will enter the season as at least the Steelers’ No. 2 quarterback, if not the starter.
Has he done enough to overtake Mitchell Trubisky?
“We’ll address depth chart-related things over the next couple of days as we zero in on our next opportunity,” Tomlin said, via NFL Media. “I don’t make knee-jerk reactions or statements following the performance.”
The starting job always was seen as Trubisky’s to lose, but no one saw Pickett doing what he’s done. Pickett looks the part of franchise quarterback and sooner than later.
He went 6-of-7 for 76 yards and a touchdown against the Jaguars’ first-team defense, perfectly executing another two-minute drill. He threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Benny Snell with 23 seconds left in the first half to complete a five-play, 63-yard touchdown drive that took only 42 seconds.
“It’s probably who he is,” Tomlin said of Pickett’s last-minute heroics. “I know he did it next door (at the University of Pittsburgh). He probably did it in high school. Some things people are born with.”
Tomlin had said he wanted Pickett to see more “varsity action” against the Jaguars, but after the touchdown throw, Tomlin had seen enough. Mason Rudolph replaced Pickett to open the third quarter.
Pickett played only two series.
“That was all I planned to play him,” Tomlin said. “I would’ve liked to have possessed the ball more in the first half and thus have a bigger body of work. Some things are outside of your control. We’ve got to get first downs for that to happen.
“It could be said that, for some of the offensive people that we wanted to take a look at, a lack of conversions limits some of that.”
Pickett did his part. Again. Now, it’s up to the Steelers when he becomes their QB1.
