The Pittsburgh Steelers are hoping that quarterback Kenny Pickett proves to be a franchise quarterback this season, and Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin spoke about the progress he hopes to see from Pickett in his second season.

“[T]is is the second lap around the track for him like it is all our second-year players,” Mike Tomlin said, via Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. “So I think it's reasonable for them to proceed with that knowing and that knowing to be displayed in their production and the consistency of their play. He's no different than any other second-year player in that regard, it's just that he's our quarterback.”

Kenny Pickett took over in the middle of last season, and the Steelers narrowly missed out on a playoff spot after climbing out of a hole early in the season. Tomlin did say that the focus for the offense was to be more explosive in 2023.

“We want to get yards in chunks… but we also want to possess the ball and control the flow of the game, and so we've got to do all things if we want to be a dominant group, and that's a component of it,” Tomlin said, via Simmons. “We weren't explosive enough a year ago in terms of chunk plays, and so there's a focus there.”

It will be intriguing to see if the Steelers open up the offense a little more for Pickett in 2023, and allow for more throws deeper down the field. If they can do so, the Steelers could be a dangerous team with their strong defense.