Kenny Pickett gets trolled by fans for gaining comparisons with Josh Allen for arm strength - “Anybody in the NFL looks good without pads”

By Henrique Bulio

Modified Jul 04, 2023 09:41 GMT

Kenny Pickett was the only quarterback taken in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft in a somewhat disappointing class.

The Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback is preparing for his second season in the NFL after an impressive rookie season where he almost took the team to an unexpected playoff berth.

While he almost made it in the grueling AFC, the bar will be higher this year - and he must deliver more. His development will play a huge part in how the Steelers fare this season, and with three other strong teams in the AFC North, Pittsburgh will have no chance if he doesn't take a big jump this year.

While every player uses the offseason to develop, the hype around the second-year quarterback might be getting a little bit out of control.

When former Buffalo Bills cornerback Levi Wallace said that Pickett's arm strength reminded him of Josh Allen, who has a cannon for an arm, NFL fans couldn't believe the comparison that was made by Wallace:

Kenny Pickett's improvement is a big storyline in 2023

In 2022, his first mission was to lower his turnovers. Naturally, his early decision-making wasn't very good and forced passes caused turnovers. With Mike Tomlin's experience, the issue was addressed: in his first five games, there were eight interceptions, while in the remaining eight games, he was intercepted only once.

That was an excellent first step, as it kept the Pittsburgh Steelers always alive in the games thanks to their excellent defense being able to close out games.

If the quarterback wasn't shining, at least he was able to close out games - Pickett recorded five game-winning drives, placing him among the top five in this stat during the 2022 season.

In his second year, he will likely need to take bigger risks. On one hand, Pickett diminished his turnovers; on the other hand, he didn't pass for more than one touchdown in any game and did not have a passer rating over 100 in any of them.

When second-year quarterbacks are required to step forward, that's when the famous curse comes.

In the Steelers' case, the next step for their quarterback is knowing when to be aggressive, especially as he has a good enough defense to bail him out sometimes.

About the author

Henrique Bulio is an NFL and College Football journalist at Sportskeeda and the Editor-in-Chief of Pro Football Brasil. He has a total 13 years of experience working in American Football, and playing quarterback at an amateur level in Brazil has given him a unique perspective of the game.

Henrique follows the Philadelphia Eagles closely due to Michael Vick's historic performance on MNF against the Washington Commanders in 2010. His all-time favorite player is Ed Reed; he believes that Reed is the greatest safety to ever play the game. Bill Belichick gets the nod as Henrique's favorite coach for coaching the Patriots to glory over two decades.

If Henrique were to be able to go back in time and watch one game, it would be Super Bowl XLIX, where the Patriots and the Seahawks played a complete, back-and-forth game that concluded with one of the biggest talking points in NFL history.

Technical deep dives are Henrique’s specialty, and he ensures never to use misleading words in his articles, since he himself consumes a lot of information off the web. He has had the privilege of interviewing Cairo Santos, Lamar Jackson, Jim Harbaugh, Sean McDermott, Bruce Arians, Matt LaFleur, among others.

Aside from football, Henrique likes to play poker and Counter-Strike.

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