Every year, one member of the Pittsburgh Steelers rookie class is awarded the Joe Greene Great Performance Award. The Pittsburgh chapter of the Pro Football Writers of America chooses the recipient. This year, the writers have chosen quarterback Kenny Pickett.
Pickett was selected No. 20 overall by the Steelers in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft. He played his college ball at Pitt and was very well known by the team.
The debut of Pickett came in Week Four of the regular season when he came off the bench to replace Mitch Trubisky. He has since started 11 games and compiled a 6-5 record as a starter. Since the bye week, Pickett has stepped up his game and is 5-2 in seven starts. Pickett did miss one game while in the concussion protocol and has suffered two concussions this season.
On the year, Pickett has 2,209 passing yards and six passing touchdowns. Pickett also has nine interceptions but eight of those came in his first five games. Pickett has thrown only one interception in his last seven starts. Pickett also has 236 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns this season.
Here are the last 10 winners of the award:
2013 – Le’Veon Bell, RB
2014 – Martavis Bryant, WR
2015 – Bud Dupree, LB
2016 – Sean Davis, S
2017 – JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR
2018 – Terrell Edmunds, S
2019 – Devin Bush, LB
2020 – Chase Claypool, WR
2021 – Najee Harris, RB
2022 – Kenny Pickett, QB