Last night, the Pittsburgh Steelers took the field for the first time, defeating the Seattle Seahawks 32-25 in their first preseason game. There are plenty of stories coming out of the game, but none make bigger headlines than Kenny Pickett’s debut. It was a hot start, a 13/15, two-touchdown performance that ended with a game-winning touchdown.
Let’s take a closer look at Pickett’s first outing all week. But to start, I just wanted to provide a brief stat overview and a couple of quick clips showing his promising game.
For starters, I wanted to look at their pitch times. Last year at Pitt, Pickett had a quick release time of 3.19 seconds, sixth longest/worst at the FBS level. Throughout his career, he sat at or above the three-second mark, a number that is not acceptable by NFL standards. By comparison, the longest time to throw last year was Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts at 3.12, one of three QBs past the three-second mark. While I don’t have official times, the first week of camp showed a similar problem for Pickett, holding onto the ball too long, suggesting he wasn’t seeing the field quickly or cleanly. Since then, he seems to have stepped things up and he certainly did last night. I charted his pitch times on all 16 pitches, including the two-point conversion to Connor Heyward. Here’s the breakdown of each pass.
#1 – 2.72#2 – 1.59#3 – 2.72#4 – 1.68#5 – 2.612PT – 1.41#6 – 1.24#7 – 1.78#8 – 2.37#9 – 2.49#10 – 1.59#11 – 2.48#12 – 2.48# 1.63#13 – 2.04#14 – 2.21#15 – 2.00
That’s an average of 2.04 seconds, more than a second faster than what happened last year at Pitt. Now, that doesn’t include bends and sacks, and yes, some of the Steelers’ concepts called for Pickett to get the ball out quickly — boots and throws and other short-game concepts, even though there were no WR or RB screens real names with Pickett. in the game Overall, Pickett got the ball out quickly and was decisive with his reads. Let’s break down just a couple of those moments.
1st and 10 – Two-yard completion to Steven Sims
I know, a two-yard completion to Steven Sims isn’t going to lead to SportsCenter highlights. But this is a representative of quality. The Steelers line up in a 3×1 formation with Seattle showing a two-high pre-snap. Instantly, Pickett checks the isolated back “X” receiver at the bottom of the screen, often to see if the offense can get a quick win on that side before working the core of the progression. If there is a blitz or if the CB sits and the receiver’s route can find space, the quarterback can fire that way. But the CB collapses and Pickett moves to the travel side of the route.
Pickett then looks for the Z receiver over the top. The LCB is playing before the snap, but drives the curl route as Pickett starts to wind up. Pickett realizes this and pulls the ball downfield and works the next read.
Seattle is in the zone with the linebackers getting deep, so Pickett hits Sims on the shallow cross that runs under the droppers in the zone. It’s his third and final progression and he hits Sims with ease, although Sims probably should have moved up the field a yard or two more instead of running sideways.
They were read by Pickett. Back X to Z to F. He knew he couldn’t throw to the X and the vertical running Y tight end was matched and carried by the zone play scheme. Get the ball out on time and gain a couple of yards on 1st and 10 to stay on schedule.
Here are two views of the play. Watch as Pickett’s helmet and eyes go through the progression.
2. 2nd and 8 – 10 yard completion to Jaylen Warren
The next move. 2×2 formation with the RB running to the boundary at the bottom. It’s a slant/flat combo with the #1 receiver downfield doing a slant and the RB coming out to the flat. The reading here is RCB. He will dictate where the ball goes. If it’s a cloud corner that sits on the floor, like in Cover 2, Pickett can’t hit the back and needs to move slantwise while the WR finds an open window. If the CB works with No. 1 in man coverage, Pickett can work the back in the flat.
And this is what happens. Seattle has man coverage and the Seahawks’ RCB turns to run with #1 in the tilt. The linebacker responsible for the back is a little out of leverage and needs to work the slant route. He gets stuck in the trash a bit and is all Pickett and running back Jaylen Warren need.
Pickett makes a relatively easy but quick read and beats Warren in stride. Warren runs to the corner and almost reaches the end zone before being tripped near the tower.
I will show you two more screenshots. A pair of lateral completions to WR Cody White and WR Tyler Vaughns, the latter the game-winning touchdown. Here we focus on timing and accuracy. On this full route to White, look at the location along the sideline. Away from the defenders but keeping white inside for the capture and first down. Not pictured, but the throw was probably a little late, but Pickett got it more accurately.
And the TD to Vaughns. Check out the anticipation at launch. Pickett shoots before Vaughns puts his head down, just as he’s coming off his break.
That’s why Vaughns was able to get up the field, elude the corner and dive into the end zone. If this ball arrives late, the corner will make the tackle. The ball arrived in time and with the corner out, Vaughns was able to make a play.
We’ll comb through the tape and find more good stuff and some bad stuff, I’m sure. But at the top, Pickett had a rock-solid debut. He wasn’t flashy, rarely pushed the ball beyond 10-12 yards, but he did all the little things. He hit the rim, made his free throws and looked confident and comfortable. He ran that two-minute drill like a champ, so much so that Mike Tomlin didn’t bring him up or step in and call a timeout on that final play, Pittsburgh on the field with a running clock. Tomlin let Pickett have the car keys and Pickett put the car in the garage…my poor game-winning touchdown analogy. All of these things were critical and good building blocks in what we hope will be a long and successful career.