Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett is off to an exceptional start to the season, and he’s worked his way into the Heisman conversation while putting the Panthers in the driver’s seat in the ACC Coastal. Still, this is just a good QB having a great season, right?
Perhaps not, says Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables.
Asked for a good comparison for Pickett among other QBs Venables has coached against over the years, the longtime Tigers defensive coordinator went big — really big.
“We’ve seen a bunch of good quarterbacks over the years,” Venables said, “but he’s a lot like Joe Burrow from an experienced and calmness and accuracy and can run and makes all the right decisions and has a good complement of players around him and a good system that takes advantage of his skill set.”
On first blush, this seems to go past high praise and into the category of gaslighting an opponent. But here’s the thing: The comparison actually makes a ton of sense.
First, step back a year. In 2020, Pickett was a good — if not at all flashy — QB. He finished the season with 2,553 yards, 21 TDs and nine interceptions. Fine, but unspectacular. Then think of 2018 Burrow, nowhere near a Heisman candidate, who put up similar numbers: 3,293 yards, 23 TDs, five interceptions in four more games.
Then — poof! — a switch flipped and, in 2019, Burrow blossomed into a Heisman winner and the leader of college football’s most explosive offense. And once again, the comparisons to Pickett aren’t far off.
2019 Burrow through six games: 2,262 yards, 27 touchdowns, three turnovers, 34 plays of 20+ yards, 93.1 Total QBR
2021 Pickett through six games: 2,114 yards, 24 touchdowns, three turnovers, 35 plays of 20+ yards, 88.4 Total QBR
Sure, Burrow was a bit ahead at the halfway mark, but the margin isn’t nearly as big as you might’ve assumed.
So, is Clemson staring down the barrel of another blowout loss to a Heisman winner, as happened in the Tigers’ national championship game against LSU in 2020?
This…
Source : espn
