Kenny Pickett knows his numbers in his first year as Pittsburgh’s starting quarterback weren’t great. He doesn’t particularly care.

What the numbers failed to show were all the times he would come to the line of scrimmage, survey the defense and check for the right play, a play that was almost always a handoff for a team that relied heavily on the running back tandem of Darrin Hall and Qadree Ollision.

Those heady decisions earned Pickett praise during video review sessions the next morning, even if they didn’t fill up the stat sheet with gaudy passing numbers or do much to build on the “Kenny Perfect” moniker bestowed upon him following his electric debut as a freshman at the end of 2017.

“I’m not here to please fans,” said Pickett, who threw for 1,969 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2018, both totals that failed to crack the top 10 in the 14-team ACC. “I’m here to please the guys in our locker room, on our coaching staff.

I just want to win.”