Kenny Pickett is living out his boyhood dream of quarterbacking the Philadelphia Eagles. Problem is, this former Steelers first rounder isn’t the starter.
In fact, he arrived in Philly earlier this year after the Steelers, his former team, made it clear that Pickett no longer would be the guy in Pittsburgh. He was going to be ousted out of QB1 by either Russell Wilson or Justin Fields. So Pickett asked for a trade.
Now, three years after he was the 20th pick of the NFL Draft, he’s backing up Jalen Hurts, one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. As a kid in Jersey, he always wanted to be an Eagle. But do you dream about being the backup?
But it’s all cool, according to Pickett. In a recent interview with NBC Philadelphia, the quarterback talked about his post-Steelers life.
“It’s been great,” Pickett said. “Obviously, Jalen’s an incredibly talented player. He’s played in a similar system. And we’re kinda all learning this new one together. So the communication back and forth in the quarterback room has been awesome with the quarterbacks coaching us and Kellen (Moore). I couldn’t ask for a better room, better staff to be working with. Obviously, the talent around this team is pretty special, so it’s a great group to be in.”
It’s early, but Pickett, the former Steelers QB, is looking good in midnight green and silver
The Eagles hired Kellen Moore to coordinate the offense. Moore is a former reserve quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys who also worked as offensive coordinator for his former team. Moore left the Cowboys in 2023 and worked a season for the Chargers. When LA hired Jim Harbaugh as the head coach, Moore landed in Philly.
The Eagles started stage three of OTAs last week. And Pickett drew raves, at least for one practice that was open to the media. Ed Kracz, who covers the Eagles for Sports Illustrated, gave his top observations from practice. His first involved Pickett:
“The backup quarterback looked sharp, sharper than Jalen Hurts, to be honest. Hurts was on the money on his first two seven-on-seven throws, hitting A.J. Brown on a quick inside slant then following up with a nice sideline throw about 15 yards downfield. Pickett, though, was consistently on target. The Eagles can win games with him if something happens to Hurts.”
Meanwhile, back in Pittsburgh, Wilson and Fields started OTAs with the Steelers. When Pittsburgh signed Wilson in free agency, Pickett asked the team to trade him. The trade went through as rumors swirled about a deal between the Bears for Fields.
Some Steelers fans and media pondered whether Pickett could’ve handled the situation differently. He initially said he wanted to stay and compete with Wilson. That obviously changed.
I handled it the way I should have handled it,” Pickett said, via ESPN. “I’m excited to be here. It worked out so well that Philly was the place I ended up landing in. Everything happens for a reason and I’m right where I’m supposed to be.”
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