Sport: Football
Born: June 6, 1998
Town: Oakhurst, New Jersey
Kenneth Shane Pickett was born June 6, 1998 in Oakhurst, NJ. His parents, Kasey and Ken, were both top-notch athletes as collegians in Pennsylvania. Ken played linebacker for Shippensburg University and received All-America recognition, while Kasey played varsity soccer at Kutztown University. Kenny and his sister, Alex, were heavily involved in youth sports. Alex went on to play college soccer, like her mom. Kenny’s game was football. Strong-armed and quick-thinking, he had the pedigree of a pro passer when he enrolled at Ocean Township High School in 2013.
Coach Don Klein helped develop Kenny’s skills and, by his sophomore year, Kenny was the Spartans’ unquestioned field general. In 2015, as a junior, Kenny led the team to a 9–2 record, completing 64% of his passes for 1,796 yards and 19 touchdowns. As a senior in 2016, he threw for 1,396 yards and ran for 472 more, totaling 20 touchdowns. In four years on the varsity, Kenny eclipsed 5,000 total yards and produced 60 touchdowns. He was ranked among the nation’s top prep quarterbacks and, after first committing to Temple, changed his mind and opted for the University of Pittsburgh. A gifted student, he fulfilled all of his high-school graduation requirements in the fall of 2016 and enrolled at Pitt after winter break so he could participate in the Panthers’ spring practices.
Kenny sat and watched for most of his freshman year. However, in the season finale against Miami, coach Pat Narduzzi and offensive coordinator Shawn Watson decided to throw him into the fire against the #2 ranked Miami Hurricanes. Kenny dazzled the home crowd at Heinz Field, connecting on 18 of 29 passes, including a touchdown, and running for two more in a 24–14 upset.
Kenny opened 2018 as Pitt’s starting quarterback. The team stood 3–4 after a road loss to #5 Notre Dame, but the game was a close one and Kenny took a huge step forward after that, reeling off four straight victories over ACC rivals Duke, UVA, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest before dropping the final regular-season match-up with Miami. The Panthers’ 6–2 conference record was good enough to claim the ACC Coast Division title, however they lost the ACC championship game to Clemson. On New Year’s Eve, Pitt lost to Stanford in the Sun Bowl, 14–13. Kenny’s sophomore numbers were outstanding. He passed for nearly 2,000 yards and tossed a dozen TD passes against only six interceptions.
Kenny started 12 of the team’s 13 games in 2019, which saw new offensive coordinator Mark Whipple amp up the Pitt passing game. That translated into 3,098 passing yards and 13 touchdowns for Kenny, a 7–5 record and a trip to the Quick Lane Bowl against Eastern Michigan. The Panthers downed the Eagles in a 34–30 shootout, with Kenny taking MVP honors. Down 30–27 with under two minutes left, he engineered a 91-yard drive that culminated in the winning touchdown on a 25-yard pass to Taysir Mack.
The 2020 season was shortened due to Covid and the year did not count against players’ eligibility. Essentially, Kenny was given an extra year to develop his skills. He played in nine games and passed for 2,408 yards. He threw for 13 touchdowns again, and also ran for 8 himself. Pitt went 6–5 and opted not to play in a bowl game.
The 2021 season saw Kenny’s stock skyrocket. Pitt went 11–2 behind his 4,319 passing yards and 42 touchdown passes—both school records—and he broke DeShaun Watson’s single-season ACC record for passing touchdowns. Kenny was named an All-American and Heisman Trophy finalist (he finished third), won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and was named ACC Player of the Year. The Panthers captured their first ACC title, obliterating Wake 45–21 in the championship game. Kenny made one of college football’s best plays of 2022 when he ran for a 58-yard touchdown on the team’s opening drive. Flushed out of the pocket, he executed a fake slide that froze the defense and then swerved into the end zone. His mobility, which went unappreciated for much of his college career, opened a lot of eyes as he headed for the 2022 NFL draft.
While 2021 produced a cornucopia of passers on draft day, 2022 was a different story. Kenny was the clear standout in a class that included Desmond Ritter of Cincinnati and Matt Corral of Ole Miss. The Steelers took Kenny with the #20 pick in the first round, and stole Georgia wideout George Pickens late in the second round. As the near-future heir apparent to Ben Roethlisberger, Kenny was slated to serve as back-up to Mitchell Trubisky in 2022 with an eye on competing for the starting job in 2023.
Kenny pushed that scheduled up by a year when he made his debut in Week 4, replacing Trubisky in the second half of the Steelers’ Week 4 game against the Jets. His first NFL pass was intercepted but otherwise he performed fairly well in a 24–20 loss, including scoring his first career TD. Mike Tomlin anointed Kenny the starter the follow Sunday. He threw for 327 yards, but the Buffalo Bills trounced Pittsburgh, 38–3. A week later, Kenny made an early exit with one of two concussions he suffered during his rookie year.
As rookie years go, however, it was a promising one. In the final two games that year, Kenny beat the Ravens and Raiders with last-minute touchdown passes. No rookie had every done that in back-to-back games before. He finished the season with 2,04 yards and seven touchdowns. The Steelers just missed the playoffs with a 9–8 record. The team won seven of 12 games when Kenny was in the huddle.
Pittsburgh made the playoffs in 2023, but Kenny wasn’t able to play after requiring surgery to repair a high ankle sprain. His replacement, Mason Rudolph, played well and got the Steelers into the postseason, but they fell to Bills in the Wild Card round. Kenny started 12 games for the second year in a row, posting a 7–5 record again. He threw for more than 2,000 yards and showed the kind of progress Pittsburgh fans hoped for.