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Pitt HC Pat Narduzzi Says Kenny Pickett is Ready, And Wants to Start as Rookie

The Pittsburgh Steelers rookie is ready for the pros, now.

Noah Strackbein

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PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers took the only quarterback of the first round, and for obvious reasons, the expectations are that he'll compete for the starting job. 

And according to Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi, he's ready. 

"He's ready as far as what he's been coached to do, how he can ready coverages," Narduzzi said. "That's why the style of offense we run, a pro style, him reading coverages, he's been trained properly. We're not running RPOs and he's reading one outside linebacker. ... He's a drop back passer that dropped back and threw the ball, when it was a ball game, probably 85% of the time."

The Steelers will host a quarterback competition between Mitchell Trubisky, Mason Rudolph and Pickett this summer. While other rookie options like Malik Willis and Desmond Ridder would've been likely candidates to sit for a season, Pickett will be in the mix to start. 

The Pitt Panthers' pro style offense certainly helps that argument for Pickett, who threw for 12,303 passing yards and 81 touchdowns during his college career.

"His job was made hard at times because everyone knew we were going to throw the ball and we weren't going to run," Narduzzi said. "... People had their ears pinned back and going after Kenny."

Narduzzi acknowledged the final decision will be made by Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, but if it was up to Pickett...

"He wants to go now," Narduzzi said. "That's just his makeup, which is what you want in a football player. You want a guy that wants to go play now."

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Noah Strackbein
NOAH STRACKBEIN

Noah is the Publisher for All Steelers, Inside the Panthers (InsideThePanthers.com) and Inside the Penguins (InsidethePenguins.com), and is the host of All Steelers Talk (YouTube.com/AllSteelersTalk). A Scranton native, Noah made his way to the Pittsburgh sports scene in 2017. Now, he's pretty much full-yinzer.

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