Kenny Pickett Could Be the #1 Rookie Quarterback In the 2022 NFL Draft

Breaking down Pittsburgh QB Kenny Pickett. Kenny Pickett Could be the First Quarterback off the Board in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Kenny Pickett Has Worked His Way Into The Top Rookie QB Conversation.

Kenny Pickett Could be the First Quarterback off the Board in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Bio

Kenny Pickett attended Ocean Township High School in Oakhurst, New Jersey. He led the Ocean Township Spartans to the New Jersey Central Group III semifinal game as a junior, leading his team to a 9-2 record. During his high school career, Kenny Pickett passed for 4,670 yards with 43 touchdowns and rushed for 873 yards and 17 touchdowns. Upon completion of high school, Pickett originally committed to play college football at Temple University, but later changed the commitment to the University of Pittsburgh.

College

Kenny Pickett appeared in 52 games for the Panthers over five seasons. In those 52 contests, Pickett totaled 12,303 passing yards on 1,674 career pass attempts. He completed 1,045 of those attempts (62.4%), and threw 81 touchdown passes in his college career. In addition to the work with his arm, Pickett totaled 801 yards with 21 touchdowns on 417 career rushing attempts. His best season came in his 2021 senior season in which he threw for 4,319 yards and 42 touchdowns along with 233 yards and 5 more scores on the ground.

NFL Outlook

Kenny Pickett Could be the First Quarterback off the Board in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Kenny Pickett is an experienced and accomplished quarterback that had a Joe Burrow-like rise during the 2021 season, thus driving his draft stock into the first round. Pickett started for the Panthers in four of his five seasons, and he departs Pittsburgh as the school’s all-time leading passer. Pickett brings good size, mobility, accuracy, poise, toughness, and leadership to the table, and he could very well be the first quarterback off the board in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Pickett is a QB that can consistently make throws to all three levels of the field as well as roll out or escape a collapsing pocket to make throws on the run with accuracy. He has a NFL caliber arm with above average deep ball accuracy. In addition to his arm talent, he is an underrated runner that possesses the speed and vision to beat linebackers to the edge on scrambles as well as excel on designed QB running plays.

We like his footwork a lot, and his throwing mechanics are on point, especially considering his arm strength. He’s got a nice feel for the pocket showing the ability to slide with his protection, keep his eyes down field, and make the necessary throws.

Some of the RotoHeat analysts are concerned about Pickett’s hand size. We all recall Joe Burrow being scrutinized for his 9″ hand size; well, Pickett is reported to have a 8 1/4″ hand size. Others are concerned with Pickett’s tendency to force throws into tight spaces. He has gotten away with it at the college level, but there is the potential for that not to be the case at the next level. Additionally, some analysts have expressed concerns about the strength of competition Pickett and his Panther teammates faced.

Kenny Pickett appears to be the quarterback with the highest floor in this draft class, but he does not have the highest ceiling. With NFL GMs showing a tendency to draft at ceiling more recently, we may see Pickett slide down some boards come draft time.

Overall, the team likes Kenny Pickett, and he is unanimously one of the RotoHeat team’s two highest rated QBs in this class. We anticipate Pickett coming off the board in the mid-to-late first round. When Pickett ultimately hears his name called on draft day, it could be as the first quarterback selected in 2022.

Thank you for reading this breakdown of Kenny Pickett. Do you think Kenny Pickett will be the first quarterback off the board in the 2022 NFL Draft?

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