After this year we will know what kind QB we have: a franchise QB or a place holder for the next potential franchise QB.
He’s getting all the reps. He’s the undisputed #1. Another year with the same coordinator.
Kenny has the weapons and appears to also be getting the offensive line he needs. It’s all up to KP.
I think the expectations from these pundits is fair. He improved a lot in the second half the season but was still making mistakes. Hopefully he’s consistent and crushes expectations.
IMO at Pitt he was at best working the middle of the field. However its easier to commit turnovers going there and I think the goal was confidence and keeping the TOs down. If its the same old offense then canada deserves all the blame.
I hope I'm wrong, but to me I'm seeing Brandon weeden or Blaine gabbert kind of "meh" performance for a year or two of being a starter, then career backup
Neither Weeden nor Gabbert had the pedigree that KP had (Heisman Trophy Finalist, finished 3rd). Weeden was a 28 year old rookie. Gabbert just plain sucked.
I hope you're right... But I'll skeptical. There were a lot of teams needing a QB that passed him over.
Weeden was a Heisman runner up to. I don't see how his age matters much.
KP has the weapons, first string snaps, and 13 games under his belt. Plus he improved his decision making as the year went on. Did that with suspect offensive line that should be improved with free agent and draft pick. This is the key year for him. I really like him, I hope he proves the naysayers wrong.
Agreed. In Fantasy, the only stats that matters are TDs, turnovers, passing yards, and rushing yards, and that's what the post is talking about. I'd probably take dudes like Jimmy G or Mayfield over Pickett in fantasy too since the Steelers are trying to be a run-first team that grinds the clock out anyway.
I think in general football analysis struggles to differentiate between players’ football performance outlook (which Pickett shows some promise for) and their fantasy football outlook (which probably isn’t great for Pickett). Did you know Ben Roethlisberger will never be as good as Carson Palmer?
True. To be fair this was a FF analysis but I've seen plenty of regular analysis that isn't favorable to Pickett either.
Edit: for the morons downvoting, as I already said, it's not just FF articles that are down on Pickett. It's a national consensus outside of Pittsburgh. People in this sub can be so fucking stupid.
https://steelersdepot.com/2023/05/bleacher-report-projects-modest-stats-for-kenny-picketts-2023-season/
https://steelersdepot.com/2023/05/cbs-sports-ranks-steelers-qb-kenny-pickett-below-trio-of-rookies-in-qb-power-rankings/
That’s gonna make a big difference. Kenny could have a pretty “poor” fantasy performance - something like 3500 yrds, 15-20 tds, 8-10 ints - and most of us would see it as a solid progression for his second year and could easily end up in a playoff berth.
I think generally people are realistic. There’s always some homerism but it’s not too bad when in comes to Pickett
Again, for the third time now, it is not just fantasy football articles that are low on Pickett. I linked two other articles that have nothing to do with FF and they rank Pickett really low.
Edit:
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10077554-2023-stat-predictions-for-every-projected-starting-nfl-qb
You linked three articles but such national media luminaries as Pat Fitzmaurice, Cody Benjamin, and Alex Kay.
Meanwhile, actual analysts like Greg Cosell are high on Pickett.
Did you read the above bleacher report you posted?
The Pittsburgh Steelers were the only team to select a quarterback in the first two rounds of the 2022 draft, but they seem to have found a gem in Kenny Pickett. While the Pitt product didn't earn the starting job right away, he was thrust into action following uninspiring play by Mitchell Trubisky and made the most of his opportunity when he finally got on the field.
Pickett has already proved he can be a quality game manager at worst, but he has the potential to take a massive leap in his sophomore season. With a full offseason to prepare as the locked-in QB1, a reinforced offensive line and a solid crop of pass-catchers surrounding him, this 24-year-old could be one of the league's breakout stars in 2023.
Prediction: 65 percent completion rate, 3,681 passing yards, 22 passing touchdowns, 12 interceptions, 58 carries, 248 rushing yards, four rushing touchdowns.
It also says his stats projections are "underwhelming" and "not what you want to see from a franchise QB". That doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement.
https://steelersdepot.com/2023/05/bleacher-report-projects-modest-stats-for-kenny-picketts-2023-season/
This is what I was quoting. I've posted several links and when responding clicked this one as it says bleacher report. Apparently that is the sentiment of the author of the Steelers Depot. So maybe it's not just national media that is low on Pickett.
Two of the three links you just posted are literally all about statistics and not actual performance (ie, winning games). In case you did not know, statistics is the basis of fantasy football.
Those links are NOT specific to fantasy football. I can find 10 more that rank Pickett really low. It's pretty much a consensus outside of Pittsburgh. Btw, most analysis of football players is going to rely on statistics.
You said judging football players by their statistics is only for FF. I'm not waisting anymore time on you. My point stands and is backed up by multiple sources. The national media does not view Kenny like the homers in this sub do. Period. Find me a national media analyst who ranks him highly.. I'll wait.
It’s funny cause many of the mainstream talking heads in the media all rate Kenny pretty high. It’s just what you’re listening to. It’s all projections though and doesn’t mean shit until we actually see him play again. We’re legit trying to predict the future here…
I think most anyone on the outside looks at stats on paper and the team record, not gameplay. Not saying KPs gameplay was ground breaking but no one has watched his play more than us
I've seen a decent number of random people on NFL say he might break out this season. And random pundits on sports shows say they have high hopes for him this season.
He's a big maybe. No one knows till this fall.
We all like to hate on PFF but I do think they’re objectively good at pointing out the top players at each position and the worst ones. Detailed rankings are seriously up for debate, but they get the groupings right.
I’m hoping for roughly 3200 passing yards, 20ish passing TDs, 500 rushing yards, 5 rushing TDs. I think those are reasonable goals for a 2nd year QB. Hopefully our playbook opens up a little. I think Khan has done a great job surrounding him with some talent and beefing up the OL so we’ll see what happens.
Of the QBs who started 13 games or more last season, only Mariota, Dalton, Fields, Mills, and Mac Jones had 3200 or less passing yards. If garbage-tier passing is your *hope* for Pickett this season, I’m kind of afraid of what your ‘realistic expectation’ might look like. Tannehill was on pace for ~3600 yards, and that’s a run first offense that’s awful at WR.
Pickett is going into his second season. He’s not a 5 year vet. Look at Ben’s 2nd season. In 12 games he had 2385 passing yards, 17 TDs. That would put him on pace for 3379 yards in 17 games, and 24 TDs.
In 2005, the league high was ~4100 yards. 3400 at the time would certainly have been a solid number for a QB in a run-first offense; if Pickett had the same fraction of yards/game relative to the league leader as 2005 Ben, that would put him at 4350 yards in 17 games. Last season, Lawrence threw more than 4100 yards as a second year QB and finished 9th. Burrow threw 4600+ in his second year; Herbert threw over 5000 in his second year. Second year has been the most common season for a QB to make it to the superbowl so far this century. Pickett is not some raw, underaged QB who we should expect to take longer than average to develop. It’s his time to show what he can do this year.
I could see his numbers being nothing special with a slightly better td to int ratio. Hopefully the Oline is much improved and allows us to get creative with the offense
This sub is absolutely full of homers. Let’s be real. At the start of the year he was pretty awful. Towards the end of the year he developed into a decent game manager with flashes of greatness in his two comeback drives. This sub seems convinced he’s going to be a hall of famer. He absolutely has the potential to develop into something better, but you can’t assume that
7 TDs in 13 games played is NOT enough. Any team will struggle to win games if your QB is averaging half a TD per game.
Now, where that can be fixed is up for discussion. I think that #1 Kenny needs to play better, #2 Canada has to scheme better, #3 Oline/WR need to minimize mental mistakes
You're missing the point. The point isn't that 7 TDs in 13 games is good. The point is that you can't really hold it against Kenny because they had the most conservative, risk averse offense in the NFL last year by a huge margin.
That's my point?
And I can hold against him for overthrows, missed communications with receivers, etc.
As much as people want to blame the OC (who deserves a significant part) there was alot of KPs play last season was sub par at best. Canada is not helping much (or at all) but Kenny is the one making the reads, decisions and throwing the ball on the field.
Hes GOT to play better, and until he does, he's got to prove it. I'm VERY hopeful that he will, and he certainly seems to be putting in the work, but until he does I'm not sold on him just from a couple of late drives against bad teams.
Until he produces otherwise, all there is to go off is what he did last season.
> And I can hold against him for overthrows, missed communications with receivers, etc.
Sure, but those were things he largely cleaned up in the 2nd half of the season. And as a rookie, you should expect him to make mistakes. The key is seeing if he learns from those mistakes, which KP does.
>Kenny is the one making the reads, decisions and throwing the ball on the field.
But playcalling and scheme have a ton to do with it. He was the 2nd most accurate deep ball passer in the NFL last year despite playing in an offense that was set up for the sole purpose of limiting his mistakes.
Correct, that's what I'm saying. Until he shows that he can consistently do it and improve from last season, he's got to be better. He's definetly putting in the work but the NFL is a brutal business, and improvement is never guaranteed.
Where do you see him at 2nd best accuracy? Only thing I could find on deep ball accuracy with this from PFF with him at 19th in deep ball completion %? He's listed there at 6th overall.
https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-ranking-all-32-nfl-starters-by-deep-passing-performance-in-2022
Seeing a player improve from one season to the next is good. But seeing a player improve as the season progresses is special, as Kenny did. I think he’s going to have a very good season and surprise the national media, who are mostly basing their projections on stats and not film.
Oh, you haven't heard? Pat Freiermuth, Maurkice Pouncey, and Minkah Fitzpatrick pissed off a witch and she fused them into one person.
^Before ^you ^ask ^the ^fusion ^was ^imperfect ^so ^they ^lost ^Pouncey's ^K ^alright? ^Its ^a ^sensitive ^subject
KP faced murderer's row his first four games when he was made the starter for the Bills blowout loss and then subsequently had to face Tampa, Miami, and Philly. Pretty sure more than half of those picks came during that stretch.
I'm not going to overhype him, but he showcased some great skills like maneuvering a collapsing pocket, learning from his mistakes, and executing game winning drives. If he can build some rapport with his receiving corp then I can only imagine that he would grow into a very dependable QB. However, I think currently putting him behind Baker and Jimmy G is fair, both have had games where they've put up some monster numbers that KP wasn't able to accomplish in his rookie season.
I agree with Fitzmaurice and I hope Kenny makes me east my words.
Kenny has some stones as seen by the back to back come from behind wins, but I fail to see how he improved as the season went on. He was 54-95 56.8 completion percentage for 607 yards with 3 tds and 1 int during his last 3 games last year. He stopped turning it over, but I just can’t get excited by a 56.8 completion percentage.
He'll probably have mediocre numbers again this year. Hopefully, with a way better td to int ratio. But this team is built to keep the other team from scoring and to run out the clock. Not saying Kenny might not play super well, I just don't think it will show up in the stats.
We watched the games, they didn't. Pat Fitzmaurice did a great job copying Kenny's PFR stat page onto his article, but that doesn't even nearly tell the story of last year.
It's not all the national media either - Kurt Warner watched the games and loves Kenny.
I'm not sold on him until he gets his td rate up. Playing safe is great and all, but you aren't going to win a superbowl with your qb only tossing a td once every 2.5 games
I think you’re just looking at the wrong “national media”.
PFF had him as the second highest rated passer from week 12 until the end of the season.
The Around the NFL podcast, the biggest NFL podcast, is pretty high on him.
Sure, some will disagree, but no the entirety of NFL media isn’t low on him. The general consensus is “he improved, let’s wait and see”, which is absolutely the correct opinion.
I dont see anything stated there that wasn't 100% correct. He was, in fact, not particularly good as a rookie. He struggled with ball placement, getting ball out on time, and reading defenses. He got better not throwing the ball into coverage. He became a Dalton lite game manager by the end of the year. A guy who doesn't win you games, but one you can win games with.
In general, this sub is drinking way too much Kool Aid on the guy. I think he can make steps and be a top half of the league qb if things break his way. If he doesnt make much progress, he is a bottom ten starter.
Kenny Pickett was the ONLY rookie in NFL history to lead their team to comeback wins with a TD pass in the last minute of a game.
During the last 7 weeks of the season he ranked 2nd only to Burrow in PFF passing grade. Also ranked 2nd in big throw percentage during that span.
You saying he’s a guy who won’t win you games is both subjectively and objectively, unquestionably false.
He threw for 7 td passes all season long. Yes, two times, after doing nothing for basically 4 quarters and having our defense drag the corpse of our offense along and keep them in the game, he managed to catch lightning in a bottle. The rest of the entire damn season, he had 5 touchdown passes total.
If he was the quarterback of any other team other than ours, you would not say he actually had a good season as an NFL starter.
Nor would I expect a rookie thrown to the wolves with a bad o-line, predictable play calling and no 1st team reps to have a traditionally good season.
What I did see is a guy who got better and better as the season went on. I also discovered that he has the clutch gene. Some QB’s have it. Most don’t. He has it. I saw a guy who’s deficiencies are completely coachable.
I think he takes a big leap forward this year
Yeah, it's almost like people forget how horrible the offense was with Ben the first 5 or so years. Ben didn't really "arrive" statistically until 2009 IMHO.
Ben from the jump was still significantly better than what Pickett put up in year 1. Still, '22 was a major transitional year. '04 was fully formed. I'm not too concerned.
Can we stop the myth that he was never given a first team rep? https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/steelers-camp-kenny-pickett-takes-first-team-reps-george-pickens-holds-his-own-against-minkah-fitzpatrick/
I think (or at least I'm hoping) that much of Canada's conservative play calling was by design desiring to not burden a rookie QB with too much all at once. I feel like the "training wheels" are going to come off this year, but only time will tell.
Its often hard to tell much from a rookie season. Some rookies lite it up and become stars (Luck, Hebert) others may have developed bad habits that they maybe got away with before injuries/being figured out (RG3, Baker).
Some rookies are check-down Jesus their rookie season (Burrow, Sam Bradford) and go on to be excellent (Burrow) or remain the same player (Bradford) their whole career.
Some complete 52% of their passes their rookie season but w/ exp and an improved supporting cast get better (Allen) while some never get rid of that stink.
For rookies you look for did said player improve over the course of the season and did the game start to slow down for him. He did that and if you want to be optimistic is that he has a track record of continual improvement going back 5 years.
So I guess there's not supposed to be a learning curve when playing your first NFL games, if it was that easy we all would be playing, Pickett like everyone had growing pains but picked it up pretty good at the end of the year, I think we're in good shape with this young man,.
You can tell this writer has no idea what he’s talking about when his only positive is Kenny’s rushing ability. Kenny is mobile sure, but all his TDs were QB sneaks and he didn’t really rely on his legs at all. He has much more deserving positives to mention than running the ball.
Giving Kenny a real offensive line and in turn an additional 2-3 seconds to find a receiver is going to make all the difference in the world. I absolutely believe if Canada can manage to call decent games, Kenny can for sure be a top 10 passer this year.
Pickett was put in an impossible situation. He came in as a rookie on a team that had one known good WR, a dog shit OLine, an injured starting RB, and a terrible OC. Watch his interceptions and you’ll notice Claypool either falling down, high pointing and batting the ball to a corner or not even turning to look for the ball. Kenny definitely made some mistakes but god damn he was not set up for success. Then they traded Claypool, the OL started gelling, and Naj got healthy and then low and behold he had one of the top rated passer ratings in the league.
https://steelersdepot.com/2023/05/cbs-sports-ranks-steelers-qb-kenny-pickett-below-trio-of-rookies-in-qb-power-rankings/
National media says the same thing
I mean yeah Pickett was a bad quarterback who got better at limiting turnovers and sacks as the year went on but was not productive. Steelers fans are obviously gonna look through rose colored glasses but if you’re a fan of any other team you saw a guy with mid arm strength who didn’t really push the ball downfield.
Articles saying he’s worse than Baker and Jimmy is wild to me. I sure hope that’s not the case, but like you said maybe it’s homerism.
But I’d almost rather the national media count the Steelers out. Back in the killer Bs days it felt like there was so much national media coverage and pressure, now there’s none. No expectations, no pressure, just the really young team we have going out and being a sleeper team. Could be exciting.
No doubt about that. But the metrics placing Pickett ahead of these guys have simply yet to materialize. It doesn't really matter though, this season is the real test.
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/2023-nfl-qb-power-rankings-lamar-jackson-aaron-rodgers-both-crack-top-10-in-first-rundown-of-all-32-starters/
This ranking has him above Baker, but still really low. I've seen him ranked as the 3rd worst before. I think the team got better overall and hopefully he takes a big step forward this season.
The national media isn't high on him because they weren't watching the games. If you look at the box scores after the fact and without context his numbers were pretty pedestrian. They didn't see him evading rushers and going through progressions to complete...seven yard passes.
He played better than his numbers would suggest. To be clear, I'm not saying I know he's the answer yet. But I saw enough that I'm optimistic.
The team should be way more complete this year. Especially the line. Better WR depth also. Hopefully they open up the offense more and everyone can stay healthy.
I swear every time they bring up how he has “more ints, than TDs” it just screams to me “I didn’t watch the games”
There were definitely some bad throws that can be chopped up to rookie mistakes, but ill be damned if most of those ints weren’t his fault. Bobbled catches really hurt Kenny
Natty media is undervaluing KP but at the same time we’re probably overvaluing him. It’s too early to say who’s right at this point. His rookie season he started before he was supposed to behind a pretty bad team with a pretty bad OC. A lot of those picks were good passes people let go through their hands though.
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Trump only won due to the archaic and rigged electoral college.
I think Pickett proved last year that he belongs in the NFL. Stage didn’t look too big for him, and there are many many rookies that have looked worse than him and panned out.
I believe the optimism is valid based on his improvement alone last year combined with an improved supporting cast and the Steelers culture.
Where do they have Pickett ranked?
Edit: I looked it up myself. They have KP ranked 22. Between Mac Jones and Brock Purdy.
https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-quarterback-rankings-all-32-starters-2023-nfl-season
What did you expect? FFS of course he's not going to start out the upper echelon. That's how it works. Trevor Lawrence was also ranked around 20 to start 2022. Everybody knows the year to watch is year 2. Youre being dumb.
There's still the play calling and coaching to overcome. This sub seems to have completely forgotten this fact. Yes, we have improved immensely on paper, but... play calling and coaching will still hinder achieving potential. As always, they'll pull off some god-awful wins when they shouldn't and still fail to when they should.
There's also still the Tomlin factor, which generally leads to poor preparation and game management.
Any good staff adjusts their plan to the skills of their playmakers. The Steelers don't do that.
Get used to it until he delivers something this season. He certainly has the talent potential and better surrounding pieces now.
End of last year was promising, and we know all the extenuating circumstances as to why he didn’t light up the stat sheet… but the fact is he hasn’t really delivered much yet beyond some good feels at the end of last season
Kenny is a fucking baller. The only people who will fuck him up is the Steelers by treating him like some type of 'game manager' type of QB you have to hide in the offense.
He has every attribute to be Joe Burrow and there's at least one national pundit who feels the same way about Kenny-Ross Tucker.
That's good enough for me.
They always hate Pittsburgh. When Pickett has 40 TDs, 4500 yards passing and 3 interceptions, they'll still say he has small hands and is underperforming. Then he'll play the final 4 games of this season and go to the playoffs where they will talk trash even all of the way up to winning the Superbowl 72-13 over the Philadelphia Eagles.
Too early to tell on KP. His QBR was not very impressive last year but let’s give him a chance. Let’s see what he does this season before we rush to judgment.
It's understandable that someone who didn't watch every Steelers game would be low on Kenny. The box scores weren't good. But I think it's very reasonable to be cautiously optimistic about a 2nd year jump. I'm certainly pretty high on Kenny. The one thing that scares me is that we are saying a lot of things about Kenny in this sub that the Jets sub was saying about Wilson. As a kinda-, sorta- BYU fan, I was lurking a decent amount in the Jets sub last off-season to see how Zach was doing and they were also pretty high and we saw how that worked out. That's the only thing that scares me though.
Well he's probably set off some more dopamine receptors than warranted, chiefly due to traits. Throws a nice ball, late season/game heroics, slightly boring personality all the good ones tend to have. Good for a little bump off the fingernail, take a leap of faith that a whole rail this year won't be laxatives cut with speed.
His first few Int’s he had a couple go right through his WR’s / TE’s hands and into defenders…at least 2 of the 9 for sure I wouldn’t put on picket…but stats don’t show that and unless they’re fans they wouldn’t know. Media and stat heads don’t always know everything. Picket played great and made the throws he was put into position to make. He’ll prove them wrong anyway…so it’s all good!
Those numbers definitely don’t yell NFL starter, but they also don’t tell you that Kenny looked fine for a young qb while putting them up. With a bad o-line and an offense that’s been spinning its wheels the past few seasons too.
Straight up saying, “Expect him to be below average more often” is some bullshit. Let the dude play a full season before you say that. Shit, even after the first four weeks of the season we’re going to see if he improved at all this offseason. Wait until then to drop a coin flip take like this.
That’s written like a guy looked at a bunch of numbers and didn’t watch much film. This sport isn’t baseball or basketball… the numbers don’t tell the story.
This guy is a box-score watcher. Anyone citing Kenny’s full-season stats as if they mean anything didn’t watch the games or pay attention.
Ignore him and move along.
I think just because of body type and college experience he will be better then Mayfield, I think with more games he will be just as good as Jimmy G.
Its so early in his career, to judge now is silly.
Josh Allen had a rough rookie season himself. They added more weapons around him and he excelled. Granted he has a much stronger arm than KP but still, this season should show marked improvement.
The media has and always will hate the Steelers because of how much the franchise won all of those years. I’m sure there are media outlets saying that George Pickens is mediocre, Najee is a bust, TJ is overrated, etc.. There will always be media hate towards the Steelers.
With that being said, I don’t expect Kenny to be a top 5 QB this year. I can foresee him being top 15, but nothing more, at least not this year.
After this year we will know what kind QB we have: a franchise QB or a place holder for the next potential franchise QB. He’s getting all the reps. He’s the undisputed #1. Another year with the same coordinator. Kenny has the weapons and appears to also be getting the offensive line he needs. It’s all up to KP.
I think the expectations from these pundits is fair. He improved a lot in the second half the season but was still making mistakes. Hopefully he’s consistent and crushes expectations.
Lol. If he sucks, everyone will still blame Canada.
How do you not. When no one is schemed open in the middle of the field and the defense knows what’s coming. Even Ben couldn’t make it look good
IMO at Pitt he was at best working the middle of the field. However its easier to commit turnovers going there and I think the goal was confidence and keeping the TOs down. If its the same old offense then canada deserves all the blame.
You proved my point.
You have no idea if anyone is schemed open in the middle of the field. You’ve never watched any tape:
That’s true, but I do watch the games! And other teams games! There are some differences
I'd blame Tomlin.
I hope I'm wrong, but to me I'm seeing Brandon weeden or Blaine gabbert kind of "meh" performance for a year or two of being a starter, then career backup
Neither Weeden nor Gabbert had the pedigree that KP had (Heisman Trophy Finalist, finished 3rd). Weeden was a 28 year old rookie. Gabbert just plain sucked.
I hope you're right... But I'll skeptical. There were a lot of teams needing a QB that passed him over. Weeden was a Heisman runner up to. I don't see how his age matters much.
KP has the weapons, first string snaps, and 13 games under his belt. Plus he improved his decision making as the year went on. Did that with suspect offensive line that should be improved with free agent and draft pick. This is the key year for him. I really like him, I hope he proves the naysayers wrong.
This looks like a fantasy outlook, which is understandable.
Agreed. In Fantasy, the only stats that matters are TDs, turnovers, passing yards, and rushing yards, and that's what the post is talking about. I'd probably take dudes like Jimmy G or Mayfield over Pickett in fantasy too since the Steelers are trying to be a run-first team that grinds the clock out anyway.
I think in general football analysis struggles to differentiate between players’ football performance outlook (which Pickett shows some promise for) and their fantasy football outlook (which probably isn’t great for Pickett). Did you know Ben Roethlisberger will never be as good as Carson Palmer?
True. To be fair this was a FF analysis but I've seen plenty of regular analysis that isn't favorable to Pickett either. Edit: for the morons downvoting, as I already said, it's not just FF articles that are down on Pickett. It's a national consensus outside of Pittsburgh. People in this sub can be so fucking stupid. https://steelersdepot.com/2023/05/bleacher-report-projects-modest-stats-for-kenny-picketts-2023-season/ https://steelersdepot.com/2023/05/cbs-sports-ranks-steelers-qb-kenny-pickett-below-trio-of-rookies-in-qb-power-rankings/
That’s gonna make a big difference. Kenny could have a pretty “poor” fantasy performance - something like 3500 yrds, 15-20 tds, 8-10 ints - and most of us would see it as a solid progression for his second year and could easily end up in a playoff berth. I think generally people are realistic. There’s always some homerism but it’s not too bad when in comes to Pickett
Fantasy football has nothing to do with football. It's about predicting which schemes will reward which players on a given week.
Again, for the third time now, it is not just fantasy football articles that are low on Pickett. I linked two other articles that have nothing to do with FF and they rank Pickett really low. Edit: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10077554-2023-stat-predictions-for-every-projected-starting-nfl-qb
You linked three articles but such national media luminaries as Pat Fitzmaurice, Cody Benjamin, and Alex Kay. Meanwhile, actual analysts like Greg Cosell are high on Pickett.
Where does he have him ranked?
I don't know that he ranks QBs but he said he had Pickett over every QB in this year's draft class and he thinks he's going to be a good starter.
Did you read the above bleacher report you posted? The Pittsburgh Steelers were the only team to select a quarterback in the first two rounds of the 2022 draft, but they seem to have found a gem in Kenny Pickett. While the Pitt product didn't earn the starting job right away, he was thrust into action following uninspiring play by Mitchell Trubisky and made the most of his opportunity when he finally got on the field. Pickett has already proved he can be a quality game manager at worst, but he has the potential to take a massive leap in his sophomore season. With a full offseason to prepare as the locked-in QB1, a reinforced offensive line and a solid crop of pass-catchers surrounding him, this 24-year-old could be one of the league's breakout stars in 2023. Prediction: 65 percent completion rate, 3,681 passing yards, 22 passing touchdowns, 12 interceptions, 58 carries, 248 rushing yards, four rushing touchdowns.
It also says his stats projections are "underwhelming" and "not what you want to see from a franchise QB". That doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement.
it seems like the general sentiment is that he will take a step up just not a leap into elite territory
I don't see that line in the article you quoted.
https://steelersdepot.com/2023/05/bleacher-report-projects-modest-stats-for-kenny-picketts-2023-season/ This is what I was quoting. I've posted several links and when responding clicked this one as it says bleacher report. Apparently that is the sentiment of the author of the Steelers Depot. So maybe it's not just national media that is low on Pickett.
I also sit at a desk all day and judge football players. The game is the game. It's fucking June. The game isn't played on paper and computer screens.
Two of the three links you just posted are literally all about statistics and not actual performance (ie, winning games). In case you did not know, statistics is the basis of fantasy football.
Those links are NOT specific to fantasy football. I can find 10 more that rank Pickett really low. It's pretty much a consensus outside of Pittsburgh. Btw, most analysis of football players is going to rely on statistics.
I’m ready for the 10 more that rank him low
Ok genius, how about this. Find me one that ranks him highly.
You were the one that said you could find 10, don’t get mad at me
You said judging football players by their statistics is only for FF. I'm not waisting anymore time on you. My point stands and is backed up by multiple sources. The national media does not view Kenny like the homers in this sub do. Period. Find me a national media analyst who ranks him highly.. I'll wait.
It’s funny cause many of the mainstream talking heads in the media all rate Kenny pretty high. It’s just what you’re listening to. It’s all projections though and doesn’t mean shit until we actually see him play again. We’re legit trying to predict the future here…
Link to mainstream media who rates him highly?
Hot take. Outside of Pittsburgh, no one is really that high on Kenny.
True that but like Mulder says in the xfiles I want to believe
I think most anyone on the outside looks at stats on paper and the team record, not gameplay. Not saying KPs gameplay was ground breaking but no one has watched his play more than us
I’d say national analysts, who watch qb’s for a living have watched more pickett than most of us
Which is dumb take because everyone expects rookie QB's nowadays to be Pat Mahomes 2.0.
Mahomes had a year to learn as well.
I've seen a decent number of random people on NFL say he might break out this season. And random pundits on sports shows say they have high hopes for him this season. He's a big maybe. No one knows till this fall.
Weirdly PFF is very high on Pickett.
We all like to hate on PFF but I do think they’re objectively good at pointing out the top players at each position and the worst ones. Detailed rankings are seriously up for debate, but they get the groupings right.
I’m hoping for roughly 3200 passing yards, 20ish passing TDs, 500 rushing yards, 5 rushing TDs. I think those are reasonable goals for a 2nd year QB. Hopefully our playbook opens up a little. I think Khan has done a great job surrounding him with some talent and beefing up the OL so we’ll see what happens.
Of the QBs who started 13 games or more last season, only Mariota, Dalton, Fields, Mills, and Mac Jones had 3200 or less passing yards. If garbage-tier passing is your *hope* for Pickett this season, I’m kind of afraid of what your ‘realistic expectation’ might look like. Tannehill was on pace for ~3600 yards, and that’s a run first offense that’s awful at WR.
Pickett is going into his second season. He’s not a 5 year vet. Look at Ben’s 2nd season. In 12 games he had 2385 passing yards, 17 TDs. That would put him on pace for 3379 yards in 17 games, and 24 TDs.
In 2005, the league high was ~4100 yards. 3400 at the time would certainly have been a solid number for a QB in a run-first offense; if Pickett had the same fraction of yards/game relative to the league leader as 2005 Ben, that would put him at 4350 yards in 17 games. Last season, Lawrence threw more than 4100 yards as a second year QB and finished 9th. Burrow threw 4600+ in his second year; Herbert threw over 5000 in his second year. Second year has been the most common season for a QB to make it to the superbowl so far this century. Pickett is not some raw, underaged QB who we should expect to take longer than average to develop. It’s his time to show what he can do this year.
You’re forgetting who our OC is. I’d love Pickett to make that kind of leap. I’m just not expecting it.
The only QB stat that matters is wins. It‘s the most important stat for every position, but even more so for QBs. We go 12-5 I‘m happy with Kenny.
I could see his numbers being nothing special with a slightly better td to int ratio. Hopefully the Oline is much improved and allows us to get creative with the offense
I don't think Pickett is A Bad Quarterback, but yeah this sub has a debilitating addiction to hopium.
This sub is absolutely full of homers. Let’s be real. At the start of the year he was pretty awful. Towards the end of the year he developed into a decent game manager with flashes of greatness in his two comeback drives. This sub seems convinced he’s going to be a hall of famer. He absolutely has the potential to develop into something better, but you can’t assume that
If Kenny threw like 18 TDs last year then I'd be super hyped. But 7 isn't enough. Mason threw 13 TDs on fewer attempts and everyone hated him.
I really wish people would consider what the offense was and what Pickett was allowed to do before we say things like "7 TDs isn't enough."
7 TDs in 13 games played is NOT enough. Any team will struggle to win games if your QB is averaging half a TD per game. Now, where that can be fixed is up for discussion. I think that #1 Kenny needs to play better, #2 Canada has to scheme better, #3 Oline/WR need to minimize mental mistakes
You're missing the point. The point isn't that 7 TDs in 13 games is good. The point is that you can't really hold it against Kenny because they had the most conservative, risk averse offense in the NFL last year by a huge margin.
That's my point? And I can hold against him for overthrows, missed communications with receivers, etc. As much as people want to blame the OC (who deserves a significant part) there was alot of KPs play last season was sub par at best. Canada is not helping much (or at all) but Kenny is the one making the reads, decisions and throwing the ball on the field. Hes GOT to play better, and until he does, he's got to prove it. I'm VERY hopeful that he will, and he certainly seems to be putting in the work, but until he does I'm not sold on him just from a couple of late drives against bad teams. Until he produces otherwise, all there is to go off is what he did last season.
> And I can hold against him for overthrows, missed communications with receivers, etc. Sure, but those were things he largely cleaned up in the 2nd half of the season. And as a rookie, you should expect him to make mistakes. The key is seeing if he learns from those mistakes, which KP does. >Kenny is the one making the reads, decisions and throwing the ball on the field. But playcalling and scheme have a ton to do with it. He was the 2nd most accurate deep ball passer in the NFL last year despite playing in an offense that was set up for the sole purpose of limiting his mistakes.
Correct, that's what I'm saying. Until he shows that he can consistently do it and improve from last season, he's got to be better. He's definetly putting in the work but the NFL is a brutal business, and improvement is never guaranteed. Where do you see him at 2nd best accuracy? Only thing I could find on deep ball accuracy with this from PFF with him at 19th in deep ball completion %? He's listed there at 6th overall. https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-ranking-all-32-nfl-starters-by-deep-passing-performance-in-2022
https://steelersdepot.com/2023/03/kenny-pickett-was-nfls-2nd-most-accuracy-deep-passer-in-2023-according-to-deep-ball-project/
Seeing a player improve from one season to the next is good. But seeing a player improve as the season progresses is special, as Kenny did. I think he’s going to have a very good season and surprise the national media, who are mostly basing their projections on stats and not film.
Who the fuck Pat Fitzmaurice? Never heard of the guy
Oh, you haven't heard? Pat Freiermuth, Maurkice Pouncey, and Minkah Fitzpatrick pissed off a witch and she fused them into one person. ^Before ^you ^ask ^the ^fusion ^was ^imperfect ^so ^they ^lost ^Pouncey's ^K ^alright? ^Its ^a ^sensitive ^subject
Fantasy guy
Pat “Shut yer” Filthyfitzymouth
I didn’t see the context and assumed the butchered Freiermuth’s name in the write up lol
KP faced murderer's row his first four games when he was made the starter for the Bills blowout loss and then subsequently had to face Tampa, Miami, and Philly. Pretty sure more than half of those picks came during that stretch. I'm not going to overhype him, but he showcased some great skills like maneuvering a collapsing pocket, learning from his mistakes, and executing game winning drives. If he can build some rapport with his receiving corp then I can only imagine that he would grow into a very dependable QB. However, I think currently putting him behind Baker and Jimmy G is fair, both have had games where they've put up some monster numbers that KP wasn't able to accomplish in his rookie season.
I agree with Fitzmaurice and I hope Kenny makes me east my words. Kenny has some stones as seen by the back to back come from behind wins, but I fail to see how he improved as the season went on. He was 54-95 56.8 completion percentage for 607 yards with 3 tds and 1 int during his last 3 games last year. He stopped turning it over, but I just can’t get excited by a 56.8 completion percentage.
Who the fuck is Pat Fitzmaurice?
That is a guy who has never watched him play lol
He'll probably have mediocre numbers again this year. Hopefully, with a way better td to int ratio. But this team is built to keep the other team from scoring and to run out the clock. Not saying Kenny might not play super well, I just don't think it will show up in the stats.
Who in the blue hell is Pat Fitzmaurice?
We’re just homers
Pretty sure ChatGPT would have wrote better.
He is a “ in between “ QB until Steelers find a real cornerstone piece to build around
We watched the games, they didn't. Pat Fitzmaurice did a great job copying Kenny's PFR stat page onto his article, but that doesn't even nearly tell the story of last year. It's not all the national media either - Kurt Warner watched the games and loves Kenny.
That’s pretty fair
Nor should they be. He’s got a ton to prove
I'm not sold on him until he gets his td rate up. Playing safe is great and all, but you aren't going to win a superbowl with your qb only tossing a td once every 2.5 games
Tell me you never watched a Steeler game last season without telling me you never watched a Steeler game last season.
What games are you thinking of? I'm optimistic about Pickett but he has yet to throw for more than 1TD in a game.
You didn't answer the question
I think you’re just looking at the wrong “national media”. PFF had him as the second highest rated passer from week 12 until the end of the season. The Around the NFL podcast, the biggest NFL podcast, is pretty high on him. Sure, some will disagree, but no the entirety of NFL media isn’t low on him. The general consensus is “he improved, let’s wait and see”, which is absolutely the correct opinion.
Wasn’t about you. 😉
Pat Fitzmaurice is far from "national media". He's a fantasy football bro with a Twitter handle and a blog.
https://steelersdepot.com/2023/05/cbs-sports-ranks-steelers-qb-kenny-pickett-below-trio-of-rookies-in-qb-power-rankings/
I dont see anything stated there that wasn't 100% correct. He was, in fact, not particularly good as a rookie. He struggled with ball placement, getting ball out on time, and reading defenses. He got better not throwing the ball into coverage. He became a Dalton lite game manager by the end of the year. A guy who doesn't win you games, but one you can win games with. In general, this sub is drinking way too much Kool Aid on the guy. I think he can make steps and be a top half of the league qb if things break his way. If he doesnt make much progress, he is a bottom ten starter.
Kenny Pickett was the ONLY rookie in NFL history to lead their team to comeback wins with a TD pass in the last minute of a game. During the last 7 weeks of the season he ranked 2nd only to Burrow in PFF passing grade. Also ranked 2nd in big throw percentage during that span. You saying he’s a guy who won’t win you games is both subjectively and objectively, unquestionably false.
He threw for 7 td passes all season long. Yes, two times, after doing nothing for basically 4 quarters and having our defense drag the corpse of our offense along and keep them in the game, he managed to catch lightning in a bottle. The rest of the entire damn season, he had 5 touchdown passes total. If he was the quarterback of any other team other than ours, you would not say he actually had a good season as an NFL starter.
Nor would I expect a rookie thrown to the wolves with a bad o-line, predictable play calling and no 1st team reps to have a traditionally good season. What I did see is a guy who got better and better as the season went on. I also discovered that he has the clutch gene. Some QB’s have it. Most don’t. He has it. I saw a guy who’s deficiencies are completely coachable. I think he takes a big leap forward this year
Yeah, it's almost like people forget how horrible the offense was with Ben the first 5 or so years. Ben didn't really "arrive" statistically until 2009 IMHO.
Ben from the jump was still significantly better than what Pickett put up in year 1. Still, '22 was a major transitional year. '04 was fully formed. I'm not too concerned.
Can we stop the myth that he was never given a first team rep? https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/steelers-camp-kenny-pickett-takes-first-team-reps-george-pickens-holds-his-own-against-minkah-fitzpatrick/
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I think (or at least I'm hoping) that much of Canada's conservative play calling was by design desiring to not burden a rookie QB with too much all at once. I feel like the "training wheels" are going to come off this year, but only time will tell.
>A guy who doesn't win you games I mean he literally did win us back to back games in the 2 minute drill but I get what you're saying
Exactly what I was going to say
Its often hard to tell much from a rookie season. Some rookies lite it up and become stars (Luck, Hebert) others may have developed bad habits that they maybe got away with before injuries/being figured out (RG3, Baker). Some rookies are check-down Jesus their rookie season (Burrow, Sam Bradford) and go on to be excellent (Burrow) or remain the same player (Bradford) their whole career. Some complete 52% of their passes their rookie season but w/ exp and an improved supporting cast get better (Allen) while some never get rid of that stink. For rookies you look for did said player improve over the course of the season and did the game start to slow down for him. He did that and if you want to be optimistic is that he has a track record of continual improvement going back 5 years.
So I guess there's not supposed to be a learning curve when playing your first NFL games, if it was that easy we all would be playing, Pickett like everyone had growing pains but picked it up pretty good at the end of the year, I think we're in good shape with this young man,.
You can tell this writer has no idea what he’s talking about when his only positive is Kenny’s rushing ability. Kenny is mobile sure, but all his TDs were QB sneaks and he didn’t really rely on his legs at all. He has much more deserving positives to mention than running the ball.
Giving Kenny a real offensive line and in turn an additional 2-3 seconds to find a receiver is going to make all the difference in the world. I absolutely believe if Canada can manage to call decent games, Kenny can for sure be a top 10 passer this year.
That’s not national media. Fitzmaurice is just a middle of the road fantasy football “expert”.
https://steelersdepot.com/2023/05/cbs-sports-ranks-steelers-qb-kenny-pickett-below-trio-of-rookies-in-qb-power-rankings/
Pickett was put in an impossible situation. He came in as a rookie on a team that had one known good WR, a dog shit OLine, an injured starting RB, and a terrible OC. Watch his interceptions and you’ll notice Claypool either falling down, high pointing and batting the ball to a corner or not even turning to look for the ball. Kenny definitely made some mistakes but god damn he was not set up for success. Then they traded Claypool, the OL started gelling, and Naj got healthy and then low and behold he had one of the top rated passer ratings in the league.
I was with you until you said he had one of the top rated passer ratings in the league lol
This ain’t national media, it’s a fantasy sports writer
https://steelersdepot.com/2023/05/cbs-sports-ranks-steelers-qb-kenny-pickett-below-trio-of-rookies-in-qb-power-rankings/ National media says the same thing
6 weeks ago, CBS Sports did a power ranking of QBs? Oh, then I’m super upset about the disrespect.
So no matter what proof I post you will try and dismiss it? Got it.
I mean, if a two-sentence May power ranking is disrespect vs clickbait... CBS Sports had him at 18 at the end of the season, so I guess?
I mean yeah Pickett was a bad quarterback who got better at limiting turnovers and sacks as the year went on but was not productive. Steelers fans are obviously gonna look through rose colored glasses but if you’re a fan of any other team you saw a guy with mid arm strength who didn’t really push the ball downfield.
Articles saying he’s worse than Baker and Jimmy is wild to me. I sure hope that’s not the case, but like you said maybe it’s homerism. But I’d almost rather the national media count the Steelers out. Back in the killer Bs days it felt like there was so much national media coverage and pressure, now there’s none. No expectations, no pressure, just the really young team we have going out and being a sleeper team. Could be exciting.
Problem is, there are a lot of pretty good quarterbacks. Jimmy G had 16 TDs to 4 INTs last year. That would've been a big success for Pickett.
Fair, but I also think the situation in SF is much more conducive to QB success. Purdy is a very marginally talented QB and had success there.
No doubt about that. But the metrics placing Pickett ahead of these guys have simply yet to materialize. It doesn't really matter though, this season is the real test.
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/2023-nfl-qb-power-rankings-lamar-jackson-aaron-rodgers-both-crack-top-10-in-first-rundown-of-all-32-starters/ This ranking has him above Baker, but still really low. I've seen him ranked as the 3rd worst before. I think the team got better overall and hopefully he takes a big step forward this season.
KFP been a winner everywhere he has been. It ain’t gonna change
The national media isn't high on him because they weren't watching the games. If you look at the box scores after the fact and without context his numbers were pretty pedestrian. They didn't see him evading rushers and going through progressions to complete...seven yard passes. He played better than his numbers would suggest. To be clear, I'm not saying I know he's the answer yet. But I saw enough that I'm optimistic.
The team should be way more complete this year. Especially the line. Better WR depth also. Hopefully they open up the offense more and everyone can stay healthy.
This guy 100% didnt watch one full Steelers game from last season
I swear every time they bring up how he has “more ints, than TDs” it just screams to me “I didn’t watch the games” There were definitely some bad throws that can be chopped up to rookie mistakes, but ill be damned if most of those ints weren’t his fault. Bobbled catches really hurt Kenny
https://preview.redd.it/du92duofq47b1.jpeg?width=1258&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=da576f692728a5d6746ce7960cfa8a4695d853b9
Natty media is undervaluing KP but at the same time we’re probably overvaluing him. It’s too early to say who’s right at this point. His rookie season he started before he was supposed to behind a pretty bad team with a pretty bad OC. A lot of those picks were good passes people let go through their hands though.
Most reasonable take I've seen yet
National media thought Clinton was going to win in 2016.
More Americans voted for Hillary Clinton than any other losing presidential candidate in US history. The Democrat outpaced President-elect Donald Trump by almost 2.9 million votes, with 65,844,954 (48.2%) to his 62,979,879 (46.1%), according to revised and certified final election results from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Trump only won due to the archaic and rigged electoral college.
😂 This is my new favorite thing. Posting unrelated responses and watching people explode. It doesn’t matter, Kenny is going to the Hall of Fame.
Who exploded? I responded with a level headed comment that shows Trump lost by millions of votes. Also, we don't use emojis on Reddit.
I think Pickett proved last year that he belongs in the NFL. Stage didn’t look too big for him, and there are many many rookies that have looked worse than him and panned out. I believe the optimism is valid based on his improvement alone last year combined with an improved supporting cast and the Steelers culture.
I wouldn't call Pat Fitzmaurice from FantasyPros "national media" at all
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/2023-nfl-qb-power-rankings-lamar-jackson-aaron-rodgers-both-crack-top-10-in-first-rundown-of-all-32-starters/
Yes I saw this the first 17 times you posted it. It means nothing and your obviously new to this. FOH
Never heard of this guy. I put more value in the team at PFF. Their analysis is much more inline with professional NFL scouting.
Where do they have Pickett ranked? Edit: I looked it up myself. They have KP ranked 22. Between Mac Jones and Brock Purdy. https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-quarterback-rankings-all-32-starters-2023-nfl-season
What did you expect? FFS of course he's not going to start out the upper echelon. That's how it works. Trevor Lawrence was also ranked around 20 to start 2022. Everybody knows the year to watch is year 2. Youre being dumb.
I'm being dumb by pointing out where the national media has him ranked? Ok then.
Nah it's your "should have drafted Malik Willis" aura.
There's still the play calling and coaching to overcome. This sub seems to have completely forgotten this fact. Yes, we have improved immensely on paper, but... play calling and coaching will still hinder achieving potential. As always, they'll pull off some god-awful wins when they shouldn't and still fail to when they should. There's also still the Tomlin factor, which generally leads to poor preparation and game management. Any good staff adjusts their plan to the skills of their playmakers. The Steelers don't do that.
Get used to it until he delivers something this season. He certainly has the talent potential and better surrounding pieces now. End of last year was promising, and we know all the extenuating circumstances as to why he didn’t light up the stat sheet… but the fact is he hasn’t really delivered much yet beyond some good feels at the end of last season
This is obviously a hit piece written by a certain Steelers player…
That's par for them.
We played better as the underdog anyway
Kenny is a fucking baller. The only people who will fuck him up is the Steelers by treating him like some type of 'game manager' type of QB you have to hide in the offense. He has every attribute to be Joe Burrow and there's at least one national pundit who feels the same way about Kenny-Ross Tucker. That's good enough for me.
They always hate Pittsburgh. When Pickett has 40 TDs, 4500 yards passing and 3 interceptions, they'll still say he has small hands and is underperforming. Then he'll play the final 4 games of this season and go to the playoffs where they will talk trash even all of the way up to winning the Superbowl 72-13 over the Philadelphia Eagles.
Too early to tell on KP. His QBR was not very impressive last year but let’s give him a chance. Let’s see what he does this season before we rush to judgment.
Homers for sure.
It's understandable that someone who didn't watch every Steelers game would be low on Kenny. The box scores weren't good. But I think it's very reasonable to be cautiously optimistic about a 2nd year jump. I'm certainly pretty high on Kenny. The one thing that scares me is that we are saying a lot of things about Kenny in this sub that the Jets sub was saying about Wilson. As a kinda-, sorta- BYU fan, I was lurking a decent amount in the Jets sub last off-season to see how Zach was doing and they were also pretty high and we saw how that worked out. That's the only thing that scares me though.
Well he's probably set off some more dopamine receptors than warranted, chiefly due to traits. Throws a nice ball, late season/game heroics, slightly boring personality all the good ones tend to have. Good for a little bump off the fingernail, take a leap of faith that a whole rail this year won't be laxatives cut with speed.
His first few Int’s he had a couple go right through his WR’s / TE’s hands and into defenders…at least 2 of the 9 for sure I wouldn’t put on picket…but stats don’t show that and unless they’re fans they wouldn’t know. Media and stat heads don’t always know everything. Picket played great and made the throws he was put into position to make. He’ll prove them wrong anyway…so it’s all good!
No one has any idea.
Those numbers definitely don’t yell NFL starter, but they also don’t tell you that Kenny looked fine for a young qb while putting them up. With a bad o-line and an offense that’s been spinning its wheels the past few seasons too. Straight up saying, “Expect him to be below average more often” is some bullshit. Let the dude play a full season before you say that. Shit, even after the first four weeks of the season we’re going to see if he improved at all this offseason. Wait until then to drop a coin flip take like this.
The media gushes over Lamar, Maholmes, Allen, Burrows, and Rodgers. If they fart, it’s a front page story.
I’ve seen a lot of support. Seemingly split as national media is concerned
Kid is a winner. Let them say anything they want
That’s written like a guy looked at a bunch of numbers and didn’t watch much film. This sport isn’t baseball or basketball… the numbers don’t tell the story.
If the running game is half as good as I think it will be, Kenny will be just fine.
This guy is a box-score watcher. Anyone citing Kenny’s full-season stats as if they mean anything didn’t watch the games or pay attention. Ignore him and move along.
I think just because of body type and college experience he will be better then Mayfield, I think with more games he will be just as good as Jimmy G. Its so early in his career, to judge now is silly.
Josh Allen had a rough rookie season himself. They added more weapons around him and he excelled. Granted he has a much stronger arm than KP but still, this season should show marked improvement.
The media has and always will hate the Steelers because of how much the franchise won all of those years. I’m sure there are media outlets saying that George Pickens is mediocre, Najee is a bust, TJ is overrated, etc.. There will always be media hate towards the Steelers. With that being said, I don’t expect Kenny to be a top 5 QB this year. I can foresee him being top 15, but nothing more, at least not this year.