
Quarterback, Pittsburgh, 2017–21
Kenny Pickett
- Number
- No. 8
- Height
- 6′3″
- Weight
- 220 lb
- Class (2021)
- Senior
- Hometown
- Oakhurst, NJ
- Born
- Jun 6, 1998, in Oakhurst, New Jersey
Wikipedia readers: about 28,061 a month over the past year
Kenny Pickett played quarterback at Pittsburgh (2017–21). He won the 2021 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. He finished third in the 2021 Heisman vote. The Pittsburgh Steelers took Pickett in the first round, No. 20 overall in the 2022 NFL Draft.
At a glance
Career highs
519passing yards, career highvs. Miami, 20216touchdown passes, career highvs. Western Michigan, 20212rushing touchdowns, career highthree times; last vs. NC State, 2020Honors
- 2021Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award
- 2021Senior CLASS Award
- 2021ACC Offensive Player of the Year
- 2021ACC Player of the Year
- 2021Third in the Heisman vote
Team titles: ACC champions, 2021
All-America: AFCA 2021; Walter Camp 2021
Players of the year, conference and regional honors: Wikipedia’s lists (CC BY-SA), each linked from its honor.
Passing
| Season | Team | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | TD | Int |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Pittsburgh | 39 | 66 | 59.1 | 509 | 7.7 | 1 | 1 |
| 2018 | Pittsburgh | 180 | 309 | 58.3 | 1,969 | 6.4 | 12 | 6 |
| 2019 | Pittsburgh | 289 | 469 | 61.6 | 3,098 | 6.6 | 13 | 9 |
| 2020 | Pittsburgh | 204 | 333 | 61.3 | 2,408 | 7.2 | 13 | 9 |
| 2021 | Pittsburgh | 334 | 497 | 67.2 | 4,319 | 8.7 | 42 | 7 |
| Career | 1,046 | 1,674 | 62.5 | 12,303 | 7.3 | 81 | 32 | |
Rushing
| Season | Team | Car | Yds | Avg | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Pittsburgh | 26 | 93 | 3.6 | 2 | 22 |
| 2018 | Pittsburgh | 117 | 221 | 1.9 | 3 | 30 |
| 2019 | Pittsburgh | 95 | 110 | 1.2 | 2 | 30 |
| 2020 | Pittsburgh | 81 | 162 | 2.0 | 8 | 18 |
| 2021 | Pittsburgh | 97 | 241 | 2.5 | 5 | 58 |
| Career | 416 | 827 | 2.0 | 20 | 58 | |
Season lines from CollegeFootballData, regular season and bowls.
On the roster
| Season | Team | No. | Pos | Class | Ht | Wt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Pittsburgh | 8 | QB | Yr 1 | ||
| 2018 | Pittsburgh | 8 | QB | Yr 2 | ||
| 2019 | Pittsburgh | 8 | QB | Yr 3 | ||
| 2020 | Pittsburgh | 8 | QB | Yr 4 | ||
| 2021 | Pittsburgh | 8 | QB | Sr. (Yr 5) | 6′3″ | 220 |
As each season’s roster listed the player (CollegeFootballData). Classes before the latest listing are counted back from it; “Yr 1” is the year on file where that count can’t place a season he played (a redshirt, transfer or 2020 year); height and weight as last listed.
Per play
| Season | Team | Plays | EPA/play | Pctile | Median | Total | Usage | Adj. pass | Adj. rush |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Pittsburgh | 92 | 0.31 | – | – | 28.2 | 33% | 0.31 | – |
| 2018 | Pittsburgh | 426 | 0.10 | 11th (n=160) | 0.26 | 41.8 | 47% | 0.18 | 0.08 |
| 2019 | Pittsburgh | 561 | 0.15 | 21st (n=155) | 0.27 | 83.7 | 63% | 0.17 | -0.05 |
| 2020 | Pittsburgh | 412 | 0.28 | 52nd (n=116) | 0.27 | 114.2 | 60% | 0.29 | 0.09 |
| 2021 | Pittsburgh | 557 | 0.45 | 88th (n=145) | 0.33 | 252.0 | 58% | 0.46 | 0.34 |
Expected points added: how much the player’s plays moved the team’s expected score, per play and in total. Plays: total EPA divided by EPA per play, the plays the source credits to him (for a receiver roughly his catches and runs, not every target; for a passer, not every attempt), so it can differ from attempts plus carries. Percentile: against the position’s regulars that season across all divisions on file (quarterbacks with 150+ plays, backs 60+, receivers and tight ends 30+), with how many there were (n) and their median; a dash means too few plays to rank. A season in progress uses the full-season bar scaled by games played, never below 75 plays for quarterbacks, 30 for backs and 20 for receivers. The cohort grows or shrinks with the source’s coverage each season (2025 lists far more players), so compare percentiles rather than raw EPA across years. FCS seasons are marked. Usage: the share of the team’s plays the player was part of (shown from 20 plays). Adjusted pass and rush: EPA per play adjusted for the defenses faced (CollegeFootballData’s WEPA). From CollegeFootballData, 2013 on.
Game by game
2021 Pittsburgh 13 games, 4,319 passing yards, 42 TD
| Date | Opponent | Result | Cmp | Att | Yds | TD | Int | Rush |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 4 | vs. | W 51–7 | 27 | 37 | 272 | 2 | 0 | 39 |
| Sep 11 | at | W 41–34 | 24 | 36 | 285 | 2 | 0 | 19 |
| Sep 18 | vs. | L 41–44 | 23 | 31 | 382 | 6 | 1 | 57 |
| Sep 25 | vs. | W 77–7 | 24 | 28 | 403 | 5 | 0 | 6 |
| Oct 2 | at | W 52–21 | 23 | 36 | 389 | 4 | 0 | 21 |
| Oct 16 | at | W 28–7 | 22 | 37 | 203 | 2 | 0 | 38 |
| Oct 23 | vs. | W 27–17 | 25 | 39 | 302 | 2 | 0 | 15 |
| Oct 30 | vs. | L 34–38 | 39 | 55 | 519 | 3 | 2 | −10 |
| Nov 6 | at | W 54–29 | 28 | 43 | 416 | 3 | 0 | 57 |
| Nov 11 | vs. | W 30–23 | 25 | 43 | 346 | 3 | 1 | −11 |
| Nov 20 | vs. | W 48–38 | 26 | 41 | 340 | 4 | 2 | −14 |
| Nov 27 | at | W 31–14 | 28 | 38 | 209 | 4 | 1 | 4 |
| Dec 4 | vs. | W 45–21 | 20 | 33 | 253 | 2 | 0 | 20 |
2020 Pittsburgh 9 games, 2,408 passing yards, 13 TD
| Date | Opponent | Result | Cmp | Att | Yds | TD | Int | Rush |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 12 | vs. | W 55–0 | 14 | 20 | 277 | 1 | 0 | 23 |
| Sep 19 | vs. | W 21–10 | 25 | 36 | 215 | 2 | 1 | −8 |
| Sep 26 | vs. | W 23–20 | 23 | 38 | 220 | 2 | 1 | 28 |
| Oct 3 | vs. | L 29–30 | 22 | 39 | 411 | 1 | 0 | 40 |
| Oct 10 | at | L 30–31 | 25 | 48 | 266 | 2 | 1 | 36 |
| Nov 7 | at | W 41–17 | 21 | 27 | 210 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| Nov 21 | vs. | W 47–14 | 35 | 52 | 404 | 2 | 1 | 15 |
| Nov 28 | at | L 17–52 | 22 | 39 | 209 | 2 | 4 | −14 |
| Dec 10 | at | W 34–20 | 17 | 34 | 196 | 1 | 1 | 29 |
2019 Pittsburgh 12 games, 3,098 passing yards, 13 TD
| Date | Opponent | Result | Cmp | Att | Yds | TD | Int | Rush |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 31 | vs. | L 14–30 | 21 | 41 | 185 | 1 | 2 | 16 |
| Sep 7 | vs. | W 20–10 | 26 | 37 | 321 | 1 | 0 | −1 |
| Sep 14 | at | L 10–17 | 35 | 51 | 372 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Sep 21 | vs. | W 35–34 | 25 | 47 | 224 | 1 | 0 | 61 |
| Oct 5 | at | W 33–30 | 29 | 48 | 268 | 3 | 2 | −17 |
| Oct 18 | at | W 27–20 | 18 | 33 | 232 | 2 | 0 | −6 |
| Oct 26 | vs. | L 12–16 | 18 | 32 | 146 | 0 | 2 | 21 |
| Nov 2 | at | W 20–10 | 25 | 34 | 204 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| Nov 14 | vs. | W 34–27 | 25 | 41 | 359 | 1 | 0 | 53 |
| Nov 23 | at | L 0–28 | 10 | 26 | 103 | 0 | 0 | −12 |
| Nov 30 | vs. | L 19–26 | 30 | 40 | 323 | 0 | 1 | −25 |
| Dec 26 ✦ | vs. | W 34–30 | 27 | 39 | 361 | 3 | 0 | 5 |
2018 Pittsburgh 14 games, 1,969 passing yards, 12 TD
| Date | Opponent | Result | Cmp | Att | Yds | TD | Int | Rush |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 1 | vs. | W 33–7 | 16 | 22 | 154 | 2 | 1 | 42 |
| Sep 8 | vs. | L 6–51 | 9 | 18 | 55 | 0 | 1 | 30 |
| Sep 15 | vs. | W 24–19 | 16 | 23 | 197 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| Sep 22 | at | L 35–38 | 19 | 33 | 174 | 2 | 0 | 37 |
| Sep 29 | at | L 14–45 | 16 | 26 | 163 | 1 | 1 | −6 |
| Oct 6 | vs. | W 44–37 | 11 | 20 | 137 | 1 | 1 | −29 |
| Oct 13 | at | L 14–19 | 19 | 28 | 126 | 0 | 0 | −6 |
| Oct 27 | vs. | W 54–45 | 8 | 18 | 150 | 2 | 0 | 76 |
| Nov 2 | at | W 23–13 | 7 | 14 | 61 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Nov 10 | vs. | W 52–22 | 7 | 11 | 162 | 1 | 0 | 58 |
| Nov 17 | at | W 34–13 | 23 | 30 | 316 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| Nov 24 | at | L 3–24 | 14 | 22 | 130 | 0 | 0 | −34 |
| Dec 1 | vs. | L 10–42 | 4 | 16 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| Dec 31 ✦ | vs. | L 13–14 | 11 | 28 | 136 | 0 | 0 | 25 |
2017 Pittsburgh 4 games, 509 passing yards, 1 TD
| Date | Opponent | Result | Cmp | Att | Yds | TD | Int | Rush |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 7 | at | L 24–27 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Oct 14 | vs. | L 17–35 | 5 | 13 | 61 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
| Nov 18 | at | L 14–20 | 15 | 23 | 242 | 0 | 1 | 15 |
| Nov 24 | vs. | W 24–14 | 18 | 29 | 193 | 1 | 0 | 60 |
Box scores from CollegeFootballData, 2004 on. ✦ postseason; ★ a career high on file.
Before the draft
Played in the 2022 Senior Bowl (National team, won 20–10).
| Drill | Combine 2022 |
|---|---|
| Height | 6′3¼″ |
| Weight | 217 lb |
| Arm length | 30⅞″ |
| Hand size | 8½″ |
| Wingspan | 73¾″W |
| 40-yard dash | 4.73 s |
| 10-yard split | 1.59 sW |
| Vertical jump | 33½″ |
| Broad jump | 10′1″ |
| 20-yard shuttle | 4.29 s |
Unmarked: Combine and pro day results compiled by array-carpenter (nfl-draft-data); W: Pre-draft measurables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Rosters and honors: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
In the NFL
5 seasons, 38 games with a stat; latest team: Carolina Panthers.
| Season | Team | G | Cmp | Att | Yds | TD | Int | Rush |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 13 | 245 | 389 | 2,404 | 7 | 9 | 237 |
| 2023 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 12 | 201 | 324 | 2,070 | 6 | 4 | 54 |
| 2024 | Philadelphia Eagles | 5 | 25 | 42 | 291 | 2 | 1 | 15 |
| 2025 | Las Vegas Raiders | 6 | 28 | 45 | 188 | 1 | 2 | 22 |
| 2026 (so far) | Carolina Panthers | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| NFL career | 38 | 499 | 801 | 4,953 | 16 | 16 | 348 | |
Regular seasons, from nflverse (CC BY 4.0). G counts games in which the player recorded a stat.
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