He finished his college career as Pitt’s all-time leader in wins (32), passing yards (12,303), pass completions (1,045), total offense (13,112), TD responsibility (102), and passing TDs (81).
The soon-to-be 26-year-old made his NFL debut in Week 4 of his rookie season and set a franchise record for most passing yards (327) in a first career start the following week against the Buffalo Bills. Pickett became the fourth rookie quarterback to pick up a victory in their first start at home since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger and the eighth rookie in NFL history to defeat QB Tom Brady in Week 6 vs. Tampa Bay.
Pickett showed a ton of promise throwing just one interception in his last eight starts of the season. The Steelers won six of their final seven games to finish 9-8 overall. Pickett led all NFL rookies with 2,404 passing yards and joined Ben Roethlisberger (2,621 in 2004) as the only rookies in Steelers history to ever pass for 2,000 or more yards.
This past year, Pickett started the first 12 games and completed 62 percent of his attempts for 2,070 yards with six touchdowns against four interceptions, winning seven of those starts. He suffered an ankle injury in the first half of the Week 13 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. The Steelers went on a three-game win streak to end the season with Mason Rudolph at quarterback and decided to ride the hot hand into the playoffs, where they lost to the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card Round.
In two seasons, Pickett was 14-10 as a starter, completing 62.6 percent of his passes for 4,474 yards with 13 touchdowns against 13 interceptions.
The Eagles now have Hurts, Pickett, and Tanner McKee at quarterback. Marcus Mariota, last year’s No. 2, signed with Washington in free agency.
First appeared on www.philadelphiaeagles.com