Two-time Super Bowl champion compares Steelers’ Kenny Pickett to Tom Brady

Former Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback and two-time Super Bowl champion Ike Taylor sees Tom Brady in second-year Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett shadow.

“As a fan, as a scout, as a former player, I’m looking for guys like Kenny,” Taylor said on the latest episode of the “Bleav in Steelers” podcast, according to FanNation’s All-Steelers Noah Strackbein reports. “Kenny isn’t going to be there very often in the fourth quarter, and one thing we do know about Kenny is if you need a breakout late in the game, Kenny is going to wake up, and that’s hard to find.”

This fall, many didn’t think Pickett would take a major positive leap forward in his second career, but head coach Mike Tomlin last month praised the 25-year-old’s “ability to make plays in a split second.” “Stand up” and “He has the ability to make plays when the games really get heated.” Pickett’s performance against the Baltimore Ravens, Los Angeles Rams this season was noted by Joe Rutter of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on Tuesday. The team achieved a reversal in the fourth quarter against the Tennessee Titans.

“To me, Kenny is the perfect fit for the Pittsburgh Steelers,” Taylor continued in his comments. “They can say what they want about what a typical quarterback should look like and all the characteristics they need to have. Man, give me Tom Brady’s characteristics! I’m not saying Kenny’s even close to Tom; I’m just One thing, I knew with three and a half to two minutes left and the game was close, Kenny was going to close it out. He was going to make those drives and he was going to score boards down the stretch.”

Tomlin would probably prefer Pickett to be more like Brady in all four quarters of the game. Entering Week 11, Pickett ranks 28th among qualifying players in the NFL with an adjusted QBR of 36.3, 25th in passer rating of 81.1, and a completion rate of 61.3% this season, according to ESPN Stats & Statistics. No. 30. In Pittsburgh’s first nine games, he threw for six touchdowns and four interceptions.

The 6-3 Steelers next play the 6-3 Cleveland Browns, who don’t have starting signal-caller Deshaun Watson until next summer. Will get hurt. As of early Thursday afternoon, oddscheckers listed Pittsburgh as a one-point underdog in this massive divisional clash.