Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett made a leap forward in his development as an NFL quarterback in their victory over the Indianapolis Colts. 

This year has been something of a strange one for Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett. Having been taken with the #20 pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, this was meant to be a year for him to sit and develop behind veteran Mitch Trubisky before perhaps transitioning to the starting role late in the year or maybe even waiting until 2023.

However after a poor start from the Steelers on offense, they decided to make the change earlier in the season as he took over at halftime of their game against the New York Jets, but despite providing them with a bit of a spark on offense, he went through a very rough patch in his first few games.

In his first five games, four of which were starts, he only won one game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (although he did leave the game early due to a concussion, so it wasn’t all on him, but he’s credited with the win) and threw eight interceptions against just two passing touchdowns. 

Since the bye week though, things appear to have clicked, as he’s not thrown an interception, has won two games and has generally looked like he could be the man that the Steelers were hoping he’d be when they drafted him. And last night against the Indianapolis Colts, he took a pretty big step in his personal development as well as his playing development.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are under Kenny Pickett’s command now

One of the main concerns this year for the Steelers has been their offensive playcalling, with many people, including former quarterback Ben Roethlisberger as well as members of the team right now all slamming offensive coordinator Matt Canada for the way he ran the offense, one that was at one time this year ranked 3rd bottom when it came to both yards per game and yards per play. 

And during the second half against the Colts, the Steelers were in something of a slump on offense, having put up 16 points in the first half, they didn’t have any in the 3rd quarter and were left to play from behind as the Colts came charging back to take the lead. 

That’s when Pickett, according to his teammates, took charge. Speaking after the game (via ProFootballTalk), offensive lineman Dan Moore Jr claimed that Pickett was the man who drew up the play that would be the Steelers’ winning touchdown:

That run we scored on, Kenny called it. We were in the timeout, and Kenny said, ‘I want to run this’. To see that confidence, on third-and-2 on the goal line, is big. It’s good to see, it’s exciting to see. It really showed who he is as a leader, the command he has on the field.

Video: Benny Snell scores touchdown for the Pittsburgh Steelers:

So it looks like not only did he get the points, but he also got the respect from his teammates. It might be too early for him to do anything with it this season, as the Steelers’ chances of making the playoffs are looking rather slim to say the least, but moving forward through 2023 and beyond, this is going to be something that serves him well.