Kenny Pickett Scouting Report / Kenny Pickett NFL Draft Profile

 

Quarterback, Pittsburgh Panthers #8

 

Kenny Pickett Measurements

6’3” / 220 lbs

40 Time: 4.77 (High School)

 

Kenny Pickett NFL Draft Player Profile

Pickett comes from an athletic family, so seeing him having a chance to make it to the NFL shouldn’t be surprising. His sister, Alex, played soccer at East Stroudsburg University. Kenny’s mother, Kasey, also played soccer but at Kutztown University. While his father, Ken, was an All-American linebacker at Shippensburg University and has even been inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame.

During Kenny’s high school career, he would throw for 4,670 yards and 43 touchdowns. Pickett would also add another 873 yards and 17 touchdowns on the ground during that time. As a junior, he would throw for 1,769 yards with 19 touchdowns while leading Ocean Township (NJ) to the semifinals. Kenny would follow it up with 1,900 yards of total offense and 20 touchdowns as a senior. Pickett would be rated as a three-star recruit by 247Sports, Rivals, and ESPN.

 

College Career

After arriving at Pittsburgh, Kenny would see action in four games as a freshman, including one start. He would finish the season 39 of 66 passing for 509 yards and a touchdown. During his only start, Pickett would lead a 4-7 Panthers team to a 24-14 victory over the #2 ranked Miami Hurricanes. He would throw for 193 yards with a touchdown, while adding 60 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Pickett would return in 2018 as the Panthers starter, starting in all 14 of Pittsburgh’s games that season. Throwing for 1,969 yards with 12 touchdowns on the year, Kenny would lead his team to the ACC Coastal Division crown. Carrying forward to 2019, Pickett would throw for 3,098 yards, including five games with 300+ yards passing. That was the most in a season for a Pittsburgh quarterback since 2004. Pickett also showed a knack for late game heroics, leading three 4^th quarter comebacks during the season.

Pickett would return for his 3^rd season as the Panther’s starter in 2020, starting nine games. He would finish the season with 2,408 yards and 13 touchdowns. Kenny would see his name on watch lists after the season, including the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Top 15 and Davey O’Brien QB Class of 2020 Top 35. This would be something that carried into the 2021 season as well. Before the season started, Pickett would be named a preseason All-American and a candidate for the following awards:

 

• Maxwell Award
• Walter Camp Award
• Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award
• Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award
• Manning Award
• Senior Class award

 

Kenny Pickett Strengths

 

Size

 

I don’t think this is a big of an issue for potential NFL quarterbacks as it used to be. The success of Drew Brees, Russell Wilson, Baker Mayfield, and Kyler Murray show that you don’t have to be 6’3” to find success as a professional. However, it certainly isn’t a bad thing if you are. And when you look at Pickett you see a player that has the size of your more traditional NFL quarterbacks. With nobody really taking the flag as the consensus best quarterback in the 2022 NFL Draft class, having a natural trait that can’t be taught can only help.

 

Strong Arm

When I watched Pickett play, I was impressed with his arm strength. He would toss the ball 50 yards down the field and look like he barely put effort into the pass. I don’t think that there’s a throw on the field that he couldn’t make. That arm strength is also key for him to put some zip on the ball. This allows him to make some throws into tight windows without the defenders really having a chance to make a play.

 

Accuracy

Having a strong arm is one thing, but if you can’t put the ball on your receivers it doesn’t matter how far or hard you can throw the ball. Thankfully for Pickett, that isn’t an issue. Kenny shows good accuracy to every part of the field. Deep, intermediate, short… it doesn’t matter, he’ll be able to put the ball on the receiver. He also shows a nice understanding of when to put touch on the pass rather than power, which is nice. So many times you see young quarterbacks always wanting to rip every throw as hard as they can.

 

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Kenny Pickett Weaknesses

 

Pocket Presence

You can tell when looking through Pickett’s stats that he’s a good athlete. While not to the level of a Lamar Jackson, he’s always been a threat with his legs. Kenny is probably used to being one of the better athletes on the field. I might be reading too much into it, but I think that might play a part into this problem. I noticed that he has a tendency to want to escape out of the pocket when there’s a bit of pressure coming in. While it’s nice to be able to keep the play alive for a little longer, it would be nice to see him step up in the pocket instead. He could always escape out later, but stepping up would allow for more natural blocks and keep the original play design intact for longer. Instead, the play often breaks down into a scramble drill.

 

Kenny Pickett NFL Draft Stock

I don’t remember hearing too much about Pickett before the season started. NFL Mock Draft Database verified that, showing him ranked as the 283^rd prospect back in August. Since the season has started, Pickett has played well and entered the talk as one of the top prospects in the quarterback class. Recently, ESPN’s Mel Kiper and Todd McShay even listed Pickett as their #1 prospect.

 

Final Thoughts on Kenny Pickett NFL Draft Profile

 

Before watching Kenny Pickett, I was all aboard the Matt Corral bandwagon. Sadly, the time has come for me to disembark and jump on the Pickett bandwagon instead. Yes, I am planting my flag on and stating that Kenny Pickett is my personal #1 quarterback in the 2022 NFL Draft class. While he’s not as athletic as Corral or Willis, I like what he brings in terms of size and arm strength. There’s also the fact that he’s now on his 4^th season as a starter for Pittsburgh. Lastly I’m considering his improvement from one season to the next. When I take a look at the entire package that he brings to the table, the decision for me is simple.

Pro Comparison: Dak Prescott, While Pickett has a stronger arm in my opinion, they share a similar size and athletic ability.

Kenny Pickett NFL Draft Prospect Report / Scouting Report by Brandon Claburn