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Kenny Pickett put up mediocre numbers for three straight seasons at Pitt before this year

In this video, we break down Kenny Pickett film as we discuss why he is having such a good season. There are four different traits that stick out to me.
Pitt QB Kenny Pickett had a few mediocre seasons before blowing up this year. Is he the next Joe Burrow to arrive on the scene or is he a fluke?

Here we go again…

Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett is this year’s media darling hype prospect for the 2022 NFL Draft. 

Didn’t we learn anything from QB’s Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson or Trey Lance (I was the only person in America that predicted all three would be busts pre-draft)? 

Pickett has grabbed a hold of the space shuttle as his draft stock has shot through the roof. 

When I looked at him this fall for Sports Illustrated and Draft Diamonds, I put a 5th round grade on Pickett, but now I am hearing other “draft experts” think he way better than that? 

Here are what several major media outlets had to say about Pickett over the summer: 

Pickett was not on NBC’s first round mock draft in May (click here to see). 

Pickett was nowhere to be found on the USA Today’s mock draft board in the first TWO rounds in June. 

Pickett was not on the Bleacher Report’s July first round mock draft either that they put out prior to this season. 

In October, Pickett was nowhere to be found on the Sporting News’ first round mock. 

However, here is where things get even more interesting. 

The esteemed Pro Football Focus (pff.com) graders did not have Pickett on their first round mock as late as Nov. 22.

Then on Dec.6, just 14 days later, PFF put Pickett on their first round mock as the third player taken overall? 

NFL teams need to exercise extreme caution with Pickett. 

In July of 2020, PFF graded Pickett as the 67th ranked FBS QB. No, I did not say the 67th as in the 67th player on their 2022 mock draft board, I said, the 67TH BEST FBS QB. Here’s the screenshot from that article and the link.

On September 1, Mel Kiper Jr. did not even have Pickett on his top 10 QB board, but then 56 days later, Kiper had him rated #1? 

These are not just my opinions that everyone loves to blow out of the water, these are all the opinions and the websites fans trust and esteem the most for their draft information. 

Now, from here until April, we are going to have to hear all the hype about Pickett.

I want to bring Pickett into real sharp focus. Prior to his one and only season of putting up bigger stats at Pitt in 2021, Pickett posted three-straight seasons of mediocre numbers on his resume (2018, 2019, 2020).

Prior to the 2021 season, Pickett had thrown 38 touchdowns and 24 interceptions in three seasons. 

Do these look like the numbers of a franchise QB? 

Pickett has also been sacked 114 times during his college career, including 29 times in 2021. 

Sometimes it is best to just let the numbers do the talking and let the national narratives contradict themselves.

Daniel Kelly is a former NFL scout with the New York Jets. He was hired on the regime which featured Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick, Scott Pioli, Mike Tannenbaum, and Dick Haley. He currently writes for Sports Illustrated Detroit Lions, Sports Illustrated New York Jets and he is a contributing evaluator for Draft Diamonds. For more information about him visit his website at whateverittakesbook.com. He can be followed on Twitter @danielkellybook and his Facebook page is WHATEVER IT TAKES NFL TALK. 

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