For the Steelers, the debut of Kenny Pickett will be one of the most anticipated in years. Such is life when you’re not just a quarterback, not just a first-round pick, but a first-round quarterback.
But for coach Mike Tomlin, seeing Pickett up close at rookie camp this weekend was probably one of his least informative experiences with a new player, given the unique circumstances of a Pitt Panther becoming a Pittsburgh Steeler.
“Obviously, I got a heck of a lot more exposure to him [in college],” Tomlin said Saturday. “Particularly from a personal standpoint — the man — relative to some of his teammates.”
Those teammates, though, didn’t necessarily know Pickett as the guy next door. They’re coming into the NFL trying to make their own way, but naturally, beginning to develop a rapport with the potential starting quarterback was a worthy goal at their first minicamp together.
“That boy can throw it,” said wide receiver Calvin Austin, the fourth-round pick who caught plenty of passes from Pickett in drill work. “I already knew he could throw it from the Senior Bowl and stuff, but catching balls from him just feels comfortable. It feels great.”
Austin’s fellow wideout George Pickens didn’t have that Senior Bowl familiarity with Pickett, so this weekend was his first chance to develop any sort of bond with the only player the Steelers drafted ahead of him.
“Excitement” is how Pickens described his first in-person look at the passer who could be in charge of distributing the ball his way — not just this year, but for the next four-plus seasons, potentially.
“I feel like we’ll work very, very well,” Pickens said. “We’re real compatible.”
Tight end Connor Heyward, the sixth-round pick, praised Pickett’s presence as a leader. But he has even more of a connection to the 2021 ACC player of the year than Austin, and it might even rival Tomlin.
Coming out of high school in Georgia, Heyward considered the Panthers, and was in the same class as Pickett. He ended up steering clear of his father’s shadow at Pitt, but things didn’t always go smoothly at Michigan State. A couple years ago, Heyward entered the transfer portal. Pitt was on him again, and there was a certain No. 8 persuading him to join their offense again.
“I’ve known Kenny since the recruiting days. He tried to get me to come to Pitt,” said Heyward, who was at Heinz Field as a spectator for Pickett’s dominant performance last season against Clemson. “Then when I entered the portal I came here and took a visit, and we talked before that.”
They hope to be talking in the huddle now, and both of their lockers will be next to Connor’s older brother Cam, the team’s longtime defensive captain. If there’s anyone who can show Pickett how to lead, it’s the Steelers’ longest-tenured player now that Ben Roethlisberger is retired.
While Pickett was helping Pitt light up scoreboards last fall, right down Fifth and Forbes avenues was a Duquesne program that finished 7-3. The starting left tackle was Jake Dixon, a Bethel Park High School native who’s now working with Pickett as an undrafted free agent for the Steelers.
“You can tell, he takes the huddle by the horns and gets everybody going,” Dixon said. “He’s been nothing but a great guy. I think he’s been everything you look for in a leader.”
Dixon was happy to introduce himself to Pickett and name-drop his uncle, Rob Blanc, who was the head athletic trainer for Pitt football for more than three decades. That served as a nice “icebreaker,” as Dixon put it, but having family ties to the Panthers meant that the all-conference lineman for the Dukes already has seen Pickett play plenty of times.
“We’d go to a lot of Pitt games, obviously, so we’ve followed his whole career,” Dixon said of Pickett. “Playing college football, you didn’t do a lot of watching, but we followed those guys. I’m super excited for this opportunity.”
