Three other quarterbacks who were drafted in the first round since 1970 and 19 members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame have walked the paths and trails at Saint Vincent College, just like Kenny Pickett got to do on Tuesday when the Steelers reported for the opening day of training camp.
Pickett, the team’s No. 1 draft choice, will get to experience another level of an NFL training camp on Wednesday when he will practice in front of a hometown crowd that is as deliriously excited to see the former Pitt quarterback as they are having the Steelers back in Latrobe for the first time in three years.
“It’s a legendary place,” Pickett said after arriving at Saint Vincent College. “A lot of legends and greats have come through here. It’s pretty incredible I walk the same path these guys did. We’re all chasing greatness together.”
Pickett referenced Jerome Bettis (his dad was a Notre Dame fan) and Ben Roethlisberger, the person he is trying to replace, as the legends who immediately come to mind who have been part of the previous 54 training camps at Saint Vincent College.
But even Roethlisberger, the 11th overall pick in the 2004 draft, didn’t come to training camp with the hope and expectation that appears to be hovering around Pickett, mainly because of what he accomplished during his final record-setting season at Pitt when he was a Heisman Trophy finalist.
Pickett, though, embraces the opportunity to replace Roethlisberger, even though he comes to camp behind Mitch Trubisky and Mason Rudolph on the depth chart.
“It’s a great spot to be in,” said Pickett, standing outside Rooney Hall, where he is sharing a dormitory room with rookie quarterback Chris Oladokun, their seventh-round pick. “I’m on a great team, got great guys around me. I’m excited to be here.”
Then he added, “That’s a long way away, coming from where I was in the spring and just kind of learning the offense. I want to compete and get better every day.”
It is something of a foregone conclusion Trubisky will open the preseason and regular season as the starter, but after signing a two-year, $14 million deal with the Steelers in free agency, he has been placed in a precarious position because of the attention heaped on Pickett and the desire of the public to see him play.
It remains to be seen in what order coach Mike Tomlin will deploy his quarterbacks at training camp. Pickett said he did not have any idea what the rotation or snap count would be at training camp — will it be the same or different than OTAs and minicamp? — because the quarterbacks had not yet had a meeting.
“We’re not going to micromanage the position,” Tomlin said. “It’s not going to depend on every snap and every throw.”
Meantime, Pickett said he continues to get more comfortable with the offense but needs to be able to implement what he has learned in game-like situations. A lot of that will begin to take shape when the players put on pads for the first time.
“I got to get some more reps in the new offense and get more comfortable,” Pickett said. “It’s getting up there. I spent lot of time studying and getting ready for camp, but it’s a little different when you go play.
“I just want to get the reps under my belt, and I think every day, like in the spring, I’ll get better and better and feel more comfortable.”
Since the end of minicamp, Pickett said he has been working out back home in New Jersey with some of the players he worked with before the draft. One of those was second-year tight end Pat Freiermuth, whose girlfriend lives close to Pickett.
“I was just getting ready to prepare my body mentally and physically to get ready for a long season, my first rookie year,” Pickett said. “I’m excited and ready to go.”
And follow some legends.
