Pitt coaches aren’t surprised by Kenny Pickett’s fast rise to Steelers’ QB1
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Charlie Partridge was busy Sunday afternoon, preparing for another week of practice, trying to help figure out how to beat Virginia Tech.
The Pittsburgh Steelers game was on the TV, but it was little more than elevator music to Pitt’s defensive line coach. He was fixated on the Hokies.
Later, Partridge caught a glimpse of one moment from the game, and it made him smile.
Kenny Pickett, called off the bench in the second half, was laughing in the face of Jets defensive end Bryce Huff after Huff’s 303-pound teammate, Quinnen Williams, had flattened the former Pitt quarterback.
Pickett was laughing because, despite the wallop he took from Williams, he completed an 18-yard pass to tight end Pat Freiermuth to the Jets 2.
“That brought me back,” Partridge said.
Partridge’s mind drifted to autumn 2017. Pickett was a Pitt freshman, and it was his job to play quarterback on the scout team, giving the defense a look mimicking that week’s opposing offense.
In those situations, Partridge makes no excuses for his players. Usually, quarterbacks are protected atpractice, but not the 19-year-old kid running the scout team.
“We aren’t afraid to hit the quarterback,” Partridge said, “because we’re training our guys how to bend and turn corners and reach for arms. Kenny almost loved it. It’s like he thrived on the contact.
“There’s a mismatch on the scout O-line, compared to the starting D-line. We’d get after Kenny, and he absolutely loved it every time, and (you’re) seeing it now at the highest level.”
Pitt tight ends coach Tim Salem likes to call what burns inside Pickett “the it factor.”
Pickett is a New Jersey guy, and that’s the part of the country where Salem is tasked with finding talent for Pitt.
“There were some people I knew who had coached him, quarterback coaches who talked about him. Couple area high school coaches who kept talking about him,” Salem said. “I went to go watch him and … he wasn’t very tall.”
Salem didn’t care
“Watching him play baseball, watching him throw passes. He, back then, had the ‘it’ factor,” he said.
“I liked all his mannerisms. I liked what he would do. He had quarterback mentality, quarterback demeanor, anticipation, moxie. All those words you want to hear. He had it.”
While others didn’t bother to seriously recruit the smallish quarterback, Salem was persistent.
“I went back a couple months later, and it’s like he grew 3 inches. ‘What the heck happened? You’re a different guy,’ ” Salem told Pickett.
“Since I was able to watch him grow overnight, a lot of people just kind of, ‘Oh, who’s this guy? He’s nothing.’ ”
At that point in the spring of 2016, Salem went to Pitt’s offensive coordinator, Matt Canada, who is now running the offense for the Steelers.
“I said to Matt, ‘You need to go to New Jersey and watch this guy. Go there.’ ”
Upon Canada’s return, he told Salem, “Oh, my God, we have to recruit this guy.”
Congratulations QB1 @kennypickett10 pic.twitter.com/p3f0800FwN
— Pat Narduzzi (@CoachDuzzPittFB) October 4, 2022
Pickett’s tale has been told repeatedly over the past two seasons, but it will complete a cycle Sunday when he makes his first NFL start against the Buffalo Bills, a team considered the AFC favorite to go to the Super Bowl.
“I’m putting my money on Kenny,” Salem said.
This won’t be the first time Pickett will make his first start — either in college or the NFL — against a quality opponent.
At the end of his freshman season, Pickett made his first collegiate start against No. 2 Miami, at one point late in the game diving for the pylon at the end of a 22-yard touchdown run in Pitt’s 24-14 victory at Heinz Field.
“Now, he’s going to get, you say, the pre-Super Bowl favorites,” Salem said. “Kenny’s done that. Kenny’s experienced that. That’s who Kenny is. You can trust Kenny’s preparation because Kenny just knows what to do, how to do, when to do and that’s why the Steelers picked him first, I’m assuming.
“Kenny’s a player. He’s proven that since the day I saw him back in Ocean Township, New Jersey, to today. I guess maybe I’ll have my yellow towel waving. I’m cheering for Kenny. Kenny will do good.”