The film proves Pickett's potential as promising as his preseason stats

FORNEY, Texas -- The preseason is over. The next time the Steelers take the field, the games will count. And, the work done on the fields of Saint Vincent College and in three preseason stadiums couldn't have laid a better foundation for when the calendar flips over to September.

Specifically, this was an eye-opening preseason for Kenny Pickett, who has put in countless hours of work to take a significant leap forward in his second NFL season.

The numbers already tell a rather impressive story. Pickett finished the preseason completing 13 of 15 passes, an 86.7 completion percentage, for 199 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Those numbers are good enough for a perfect 158.3 passer rating. His 13.3 yards per attempt not only represents his efficiency, but also his ability to connect on passes down the field. And, most importantly, all five of Pickett's preseason drives finished with touchdowns. For an offense that needs to score more this season, that is the proverbial feather in the cap.

The analytics nerds at Pro Football Focus also loved what Pickett did, giving him a 94.7 grade for the preseason. What really boosted his grade was connecting on three of what PFF calls, "big-time throws." Two of those throws came in the preseason finale on deep passes to Diontae Johnson and George Pickens.

But, what we can really learn from Pickett was the little things he put on film. There are variables that can't be accounted for with preseason stats, most significantly being the level of competition he faced. While Pickett faced the Bills' starting defense for two series, he faced the Buccaneers' and Falcons' second-team defenses. That has to be factored into the equation.

However, Pickett still needs to execute, regardless of who's on the other side of the ball. He did that -- according to his passer rating -- to perfection. And, the aforementioned little things are encouraging because they can translate to better performance against starter-quality competition when the games matter.

One thing that stood out was the ability to look off coverage to create larger windows for intended targets. Here are two examples of Pickett doing this, and both wound up being big plays:

Pickett is going to Pickens the whole way on this play. He knew that before the ball was even snapped. Pickett not only uses his eyes but his entire body to keep No. 52 out of the passing lane. Then, using really solid footwork, he's able to pivot, read the other linebacker who's responsible for Jaylen Warren, and fire a strike to Pickens.

Here, Pickett knows he has man coverage on the outside with Johnson. And, with how good Johnson's release is off the line of scrimmage, Pickett knows all he needs to do is get the safety to freeze long enough to open up the over-the-shoulder throw to Johnson down the field. He does that and drops it right into Johnson's breadbasket for a big gain downfield.

I have both the sideline and end zone views here for a reason. The sideline view is to see the safety at the top right (No. 32) freeze long enough to keep Johnson open downfield. The end zone view gives you a better view of how Pickett, once again, uses his eyes and body language to sell the middle of the field to the safety, then uses good footwork to quickly pivot and throw a perfect pass.

The real encouraging thing about both of these plays is Pickett made it look way too easy. He manipulated the defense to get them to do exactly what he wanted, then executed perfect passes. This is what an NFL quarterback looks like. Also, his footwork in the pocket was phenomenal, which leads us to another promising trait that stood out during the preseason.

One of Pickett's biggest flaws as a rookie was his pocket presence. He was clearly uncomfortable far too often. In turn, he abandoned the pocket too quickly far too often. Here's an example of it, even during his better stretch of football last season:

Pickett played very well down the stretch in 2022, and we know now that Pickett winds up leading the Steelers to a victory later in this game with a fourth-quarter comeback. But, notice here how Pickett quickly gets into "happy feet" mode and takes off well before the pocket has a chance to collapse. In fact, the pocket holds up long enough that if Pickett would have tried to stay and maybe shift to his right while keeping his eyes downfield, there's a good chance he would have seen Johnson streaking across the middle with nobody around him. That's a potential big gain to get deep into the red zone that just vanished.

In the preseason matchup against the Bills, this throw was a breath of fresh air:

I really love this play. Pickett senses the pressure coming from the edge, steps up to avoid it -- all while keeping his eyes downfield. He finds Allen Robinson and squeezes in an accurate throw while using his legs and mobility to further evade the pressure. He's calm and collected in the pocket and uses his mobility to create the space needed without having to completely wave the white flag and roll out. And, it's worth noting that this moved the chains on third down. 

Pickett keeping his eyes downfield while using his legs is where we can really see him make his best plays. He needs to be able to make more throws from the pocket. There's no question about that. But, Matt Canada purposely has plays in the playbook to get Pickett moving. This is, after all, what Pickett does best.

But, even this strength in Pickett's game has needed growth. Here's a designed roll out from last year's game in Miami. It's a nice, modest gain, but it could have been more:

Pickett gives up on this play far too quickly. His eyes don't make it downfield at all, almost as if he already made up his mind that he was going to Pat Freiermuth, no matter what. There ends up being one Dolphin rusher that pressures him, but if Pickett looked downfield even for a split second, he would have had more than enough time to find Chase Claypool wide open for an easy first down.

Fast forward to the preseason opener this year, and Pickett fully commits to multiple options on a mirrored version of a very similar play:

Pickett double-clutches on his easy first target and uses the time given to let the play develop. In turn, he keeps his eyes downfield, waits for Johnson to run into the soft spot in the defense and hits him in stride while on the run. Instead of a few yards, Pickett's dedication to other options nets a longer completion and a first down.

Finally, we couldn't talk about what Pickett accomplished this preseason without bringing up his best throw:

There isn't that much to break down here. There's one spot and one spot only where Pickett could make this throw, and he put it exactly where it needed to go. This is a big-league throw. He literally threw Freiermuth open. Pickett is an accurate enough passer to do this on a consistent basis. As he learns defenses and as the NFL game slows down for him, the potential for these type of plays only goes up. That, of all the things brought up in this breakdown, might be the most encouraging trait of all. When it comes to playing quarterback in the NFL, having the ability to throw receivers open is a must. Pickett can do that, and he proved it here.

We could easily get carried away and take the small sample size that is preseason football and make absolute claims that Pickett is guaranteed to make a huge leap forward. Fans want that to happen because, with the talent the Steelers have on offense and defense, a legitimate franchise quarterback is more than enough to turn this team into a contender.

And, it's important to remember that Mike Tomlin referred to Pickett as "the catalyst" for the offense after the preseason win at Atlanta. The better Pickett is, the more potential this offense has to score points.

It's important to remember that this is only preseason. The games are different in so many ways when they count toward the regular season record. Not only will Pickett be facing the very best of each defense from here on out, those defenses will be specifically game-planning against him, which is not common practice in preseason football, in which teams are focused much more on themselves rather than the opposition. It literally is a whole different ballgame.

That being said, everything pointed out here shows that Pickett has clearly worked to clean up some of his flaws from last season. The footwork inside the pocket to freeze defenders, him keeping his eyes downfield to let plays develop, throwing receivers open -- these are all traits that can elevate Pickett into becoming one of the better quarterbacks in this league.

How will things translate when the games matter? That's the question at the forefront of everyone's mind now. Was this just a by-product of preseason football? Or is Pickett really about to take off? 

The good thing is, we should get an answer pretty quickly. The Steelers open up the season against the 49ers, who boast perhaps the league's best defense. If he can do the same things against them and execute, then it might be impossible to quell any excitement in Pittsburgh.