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Kenny Pickett could end up as the first quarterback in the 2022 NFL Draft, or he could find himself falling out of the first round.
That sums up how 'uncertain' this year's quarterback class is. Pickett and Malik Willis seem to be pulling away from the rest of the pack as the top two quarterbacks, though.
Pickett is arguably the one with the most momentum after narrowly missing out on winning the Heisman last season. He was a long-time member of the Pittsburgh Panthers and was a top-25 player coming out of high school.
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Born and raised in New Jersey, Pickett played football at Ocean Township High School in Monmouth County. Ocean Township hasn't produced many NFL players, but a member of the Oakland Raiders' 1976 Super Bowl team is an alum: four-time Pro Bowl linebacker Phil Villapiano.
During Pickett's time at Ocean Township, he took his team to the state semi-finals as a junior and was rated as the #23-ranked college prospect as a senior. Overall, he had 5,500+ all-purpose yards and 60 total touchdowns.
He received interest from over two dozen programs, including Michigan, Penn State and Coastal Carolina. Like fellow prospect Malik Willis, Pickett originally committed to Temple before making a change to play for Pittsburgh instead.
After four rocky seasons with the Panthers, the 2021 campaign saw Pickett finally find his groove with an 11-2 record, 4,319 passing yards, 42 touchdowns and a third-place finish in the Heisman voting.
He's the most experienced prospect in this year's draft class, although he hasn't had consistency through his five years at Pitt.
Kenny Pickett has chance to remain playing at Heinz Field
The Pittsburgh Panthers share their home field with the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field, so Kenny Pickett has plenty of experience playing in an NFL stadium. He can end up continuing to play on the field he has become familiar with and get drafted to the Steelers at pick #20.
The Steelers watched Ben Roethlisberger ride off into the sunset, leaving behind Mason Rudolph and Dwayne Haskins as subpar quarterbacks. Even though they recently signed free agent Mitch Trubisky to compete for the starting job, that doesn't take them out of the running for a quarterback in the first round.
The defense is ready to go and compete for a Super Bowl, but the offense needs some help. Selecting Pickett at #20 and a receiver in the second round could help the Steelers sneak into the playoffs in 2022. There are some minor flaws in Pickett's game (like small hands), but he has only gotten better over time.
There's a possibility the likes of the Seattle Seahawks or the New Orleans Saints could pick him up before dropping to Pittsburgh. However, it might be best for Kenny Pickett to stay in Pennsylvania.
