Kenny Pickett walked onto the practice fields at the UMPC Rooney Sports Complex Friday morning as he's done for the past five years.
But instead of taking the long walk around the outside of the four fields to get over to the Pitt side of things on the far side of the facility, he stopped at the first field and began his initial practice as a member of the Steelers.
With several of his former Pitt teammates watching on nearby benches, Pickett got down to business of leading his new team through a walk-through and then practice as the Steelers kicked off their rookie minicamp here Friday.
"It’s a shorter walk pretty much," the Steelers' first-round draft pick said of his new job. "I’m trying to learn these guys’ names. We really haven’t gotten a chance to meet anybody. We’ve been in meetings. I want to call guys out to talk and help and I have no clue who I’m talking to."
But that doesn't mean he doesn't have a clue about what he's doing.
Matt Canada was the offensive coordinator at Pitt in 2016 when Pickett was being recruited to Pitt. He not only helped finalize the deal to get Pickett to join the Panthers, when Canada left to become offensive coordinator at LSU for the 2017 season, the Panthers kept much of his offensive scheme in place the next two seasons under new coordinator Shawn Watson.
"Coach Watson kind of kept some of the same formations. I thought the walk-through today int pretty well. I’m excited to practice," Pickett said.
"By the same, I don’t mean identical. The formations that Coach Canada had, Coach Watson inherited. He kind of kept everything the same. That’s the extent of it. I had some recall of that, which really helped me with the install."
The Steelers selected Pickett, a finalist for the Heisman Trophy last season in a record-setting year at Pitt, with the 20th pick in the NFL Draft two weeks ago. Since then, he's been learning the playbook, finding a new place to live in his adopted home town and hearing from his new teammates.
He also heard from the guy he could be tasked with replacing, Ben Roethlisberger.
"He said he’s always there for me if I have any questions or need advice," Pickett said. "He’s a future Hall of Famer, so he’s a guy I’ll definitely use as a resource."
From the sounds of things, the 51 players the Steelers had at their rookie camp -- 28 players on tryouts, 17 rookies who were either drafted or signed as free agents, and six first-year players -- were leaning on Pickett's experience and command to make things run smoothly.
Pickett and seventh-round draft pick Chris Oladukon are the only two quarterbacks at the three-day camp, meaning if they can't get the team in and out of the huddle properly, it can lead to a long weekend.
That was not an issue.
"I’ve known Kenny since recruiting days. He tried to get me to go to Pitt. And then when I entered the transfer portal, I came here and took a visit," said tight end Connor Heyward, a sixth-round pick out of Michigan State. "We talked before that. It’s really cool to see him here, right next door and how his process has been. Every year, he got better. He’s a Heisman Trophy finalist and he’s here to work. He had everyone on the same page and his presence in the huddle was really good."
That's what it needs to be for Pickett to have the chance to compete for the starting job with Mitch Trubisky and Mason Rudolph as the Steelers expect him to do.
Pickett knows for that to happen, he has to have total command of the offense. The physical tools are there. The rest is the mental side of things.
"I think it’s all mental. It’s knowing what I have to do and knowing the responsibilities of everyone else on the offense and learning new defenses that are in the NFL," Pickett said. "There’s a lot that goes into it. I’m going to dedicate myself to it and over time be the best I can be."
If he has any questions about the defensive side of things, in a couple of weeks when the Steelers restart their OTAs with veteran players on hand, as well, he can simply ask his neighbor in the locker room.
The Steelers put Pickett's locker here right next to that of defensive captain Cam Heyward. Connor Heyward, Cam's younger brother, is on the other side.
Pickett was considered the most NFL-ready quarterback available in this year's draft. But he knows there's a difference between being NFL-ready and actually competing in the NFL.
"(I'm) just learning what I have to do," Pickett said. "I have no shot if I don’t know what do to. I’m really dedicating myself to the playbook and really learning every detail I possibly can to give us the best shot to operate."
