Steelers Have 'Full Faith' in QB Kenny Pickett Despite Struggles, GM Omar Khan Says

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett struggled during the 2023 campaign, but the franchise appears to have no intention of replacing him ahead of the 2024 season.

"I have full faith in Kenny," Steelers general manager Omar Khan said at the NFL scouting combine Thursday, per ESPN's Brooke Pryor. "He's shown us some good things, and obviously there were some issues with the offense.

"I'm excited about the impact that [new offensive coordinator] Arthur Smith's going to have on him. Arthur's very optimistic about Kenny and they communicated, and like I said, we will have some strong competition there and we'll see where it goes. Feel really good about him."

Pickett's struggles last season weren't entirely his fault.

The 2022 first-round pick dealt with an ankle injury and was ultimately limited to 12 games because of the ailment. He ended up undergoing TightRope surgery after a Week 13 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

Offensive coordinator Matt Canada also contributed to Pittsburgh's offensive struggles, and he was fired in November with Pittsburgh ranking 31st in yards and 31st in touchdowns to that point in the season.

Pickett finished the year having completed 62 percent of his passes for 2,070 yards and six touchdowns against four interceptions. He also rushed for 54 yards and one score.

Pickett is expected to put together a much better 2023 campaign under Smith, who was hired as Pittsburgh's offensive coordinator earlier this month after three seasons as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons.

While Pickett will likely continue to be the team's starter in 2024, the Steelers still need to find a backup. The franchise released Mitchell Trubisky earlier this month and Mason Rudolph is set for free agency.

Rudolph started Pittsburgh's final three games of the 2023 season, leading the franchise to a 3-0 record to close out the year. He completed 74.6 percent of his passes for 716 yards and three touchdowns in that span.

Whether its Rudolph or another quarterback, the Steelers are expecting whichever player they sign to give Pickett some competition for the starting job entering the 2024 season.

"(I) feel really good about Kenny, but he knows and we all know that there's going to be competition in the room, and we've always been a team that keeps three quarterbacks and I'd expect that to be the same this year. So we'll look at all avenues," Khan said, per Dale Lolley of the team's website.