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Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin finally relented and inserted rookie QB Kenny Pickett into an NFL regular season game. Will Pickett be the permanent starter moving forward? What can we expect from him? Here are our bold predictions for Kenny Pickett after he replaced Mitchell Trubisky in Week 4.
The age of Kenny Pickett seemed to have begun. He finally played in the Steelers' loss to the New York Jets in Week 4.
On the first offensive drive of the second half, Pittsburgh's rookie quarterback replaced Mitchell Trubisky in the team's 24-20 loss to the New York Jets.
Trubisky was benched following a sluggish first half. At that point, the Steelers offense had just eight first downs in seven possessions and failed to reach the red zone. After two quarters, the Trubisky-led offense had 147 yards of total offense and six points. Trubisky completed 7-of-13 passes for 84 yards and one interception at the time of his benching.
With these in mind, here are our four bold predictions for Kenny Pickett after the rookie Steelers QB replaced Mitchell Trubisky in Week 4.
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4. Kenny Pickett permanently takes over as starting QB
Mike Tomlin probably won't give any media the satisfaction of soundbites confirming what we already know. Kenny Pickett will be the Steelers' permanent starting quarterback for the rest of the 2022 NFL season.
Tomlin and the rest of the Steelers have been very patient with Trubisky as the incumbent starter, but it's clear that he just hasn't worked as well as some have hoped.
For better or worse, the Steelers would do well to place their bets on Pickett, who, even if he turns out to be an absolute wash, will still have the Pittsburgh fans salivating at his potential.
There really is no going back for Tomlin & Co. after they put Pickett in for an entire half and watched him have a solid NFL debut.
Trubisky, of course, is not happy, but that's the NFL for you.
“Didn't score enough points, got pulled at halftime. That's how it goes,” Trubisky said post-game. “That's business as usual. Just gotta find a way to pull together as a team and get better from here. So, disappointed, obviously. But that's part of it.”
3. Kenny Pickett averages 250+ yards per game
Kenny Pickett played as well as one can expect from any rookie QB seeing action four games into the regular season.
Pickett completed 10-of-13 passes for 120 yards on five possessions. The rookie scored twice on the ground but also threw three interceptions.
“I thought we needed a spark, man,” Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin told NFL.com after the game. “We didn't do much in the first half, not enough offensively, and I thought he could provide a spark for us.”
Pickett's first NFL drive did not go well, but the rookie quarterback was swiftly handed the ball in a critical circumstance.
Kenny Pickett's first throw in the league is intercepted 😬
(via @NFL) pic.twitter.com/J6lEYTw6gJ
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 2, 2022
Pickett's number was called for a successful QB sneak on fourth-and-1 at their own 31-yard line. Two plays later, Pickett attempted to find Chase Claypool downfield, but Jets safety Jordan Whitehead intercepted him.
The Steelers promptly regained possession after Minkah Fitzpatrick intercepted a tipped pass, and Pickett's number was called once more near the goal line. That's where he scored the team's first touchdown of the day on a QB sneak.
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Pickett's first career touchdown put the Steelers ahead of the Jets, 13-10.
This is the type of play we can anticipate from Pickett. Sure, he can rush, but he's more of a passer than a true dual-threat quarterback. He won't be able to maintain his 76.9 percent completion percentage, but it's realistic to expect the rookie to average 250+ total yards each game.
2. Kenny Pickett throws 2 INTs per game
Those picks hurt the Steelers in the endgame, but they also manifested the guts Pickett had. He didn't shy away from the moment and tried to make plays.
Still, turnovers are turnovers. Even Pickett himself didn't deflect any questions about them.
“You can't throw an interception there at that point in the game,” Pickett told NFL.com. “Obviously, we were moving the ball well. You want to be aggressive, but at the same time, the clock was our friend there and we wanted to possess the ball. I can't make that mistake. It's something I need to learn from quickly and get it fixed for whenever my next opportunity comes,” he said. Tomlin said Pickett brought “some energy” to the offense. “We scored some touchdowns. But, obviously, we also turned the ball over.”
He'll have a ton of chances to prove his worth. That means we can expect a lot of air yards, but we should also temper that with the likelihood he hasn't thrown his last pick this season.
Though Pickett doesn't seem like the kind of young QB who easily gets flustered, he will still throw his fair share of interceptions. Two a game down the line sounds realistic enough.
1. Kenny Pickett and the Steelers still won't make the playoffs
The remaining schedule for the Steelers is brutal — maybe one of the toughest in the entire league.
With their new starting QB, the Steelers are set to face the Bills, Buccaneers, Dolphins, and Eagles in their next four games. Unless the injury bug bites those teams hard, the Steelers won't win any of those games no matter who their QB is.
#Steelers drop to 1-3 on the season. Their upcoming schedule is not fun.
Week 5: @ Bills
Week 6: Buccaneers
Week 7: @ Dolphins
Week 8: @ Eagles— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 2, 2022
We suspect Pickett will have some good duels with some star quarterbacks in the coming weeks. Still, he should be prepared to absorb a ton of Ls as part of his development process.
They do have some winnable assignments as well, but by and large, things are not going to be easy for them the rest of the way. Winning six games would be quite impressive already, to be honest. However, the real prize is seeing consistent growth and maturity in Kenny Pickett as he settles in to become the new face of the Pittsburgh Steelers franchise.
