Najee Harris explains what's different about Kenny Pickett entering 2023 season

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris has seen quarterback Kenny Pickett grow a lot since his rookie season. Last year when Pickett arrived for OTAs, there was naturally a lot of learning to do as he settled in and got his first feel for exactly how the process worked.

Fast forward to now and he has 12 games of starting experience under his belt. The result, according to Harris, is a player who looks “a lot more comfortable” and isn’t afraid to speak up and be a leader for his teammates.

“Kenny’s a lot more comfortable,” Harris said at the team’s minicamp. “He’s a quick learner, too. Him being vocal, him understanding coverages, him being more in a comfortable place, I think that’s what’s gonna separate him a lot. Him still learning and stuff like that.”

The Steelers made Pickett the first quarterback off the board in the 2022 NFL Draft, selecting him 20th overall. The decision came after longtime starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger announced his retirement that offseason, and Pickett was presumed to take over as his replacement.

Pittsburgh rolled out Mitch Trubisky as its starting quarterback for the first four games of 2022 before turning to Pickett in the second half of Week 4. The learning curve was apparent early on as the rookie threw eight interceptions to just two touchdowns across his first five games.

After that, however, things began to click. Pickett went on to throw just one interception over the next eight games combined, leading the Steelers to a 6-2 record. He finished his first NFL season with 2,404 yards passing, seven touchdowns and nine interceptions.

Pittsburgh will hope Pickett can build on his performance from the back half of last season to make even more improvements in 2023. Harris has seen a desire to do so from the young quarterback, telling reporters that he no longer looks like a rookie.

“Kenny, when he comes out here, you see that he wants to have control,” the running back said. “He wants to win. He’s very competitive. You want that in a quarterback. I think that’s some things I see in him that’s different from last year. He kind of just looked like a rookie. He looks like a vet now, in a way.”

The Steelers finished 9-8 this past season but failed to make the playoffs. However, with the progress from Pickett, they’ll hope for a better result in 2023 in what should be a tough AFC North division race.

Pittsburgh is set to begin training camp on July 26 and will open preseason play shortly after that on Aug. 11 against the Buccaneers.