Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan has expressed confidence in Kenny Pickett despite an up-and-down sophomore season.

"I have full faith in Kenny," Khan said. "He's shown us some good things, and obviously there were some issues with the offense.

"I'm excited about the impact that [new offensive coordinator] Arthur Smith's going to have on him. Arthur's very optimistic about Kenny and they communicated, and like I said, we will have some strong competition there and we'll see where it goes. Feel really good about him."

Pickett was limited to 12 games last season because of an ankle injury in Week 13 that resulted in TightRope surgery.

Though he was medically cleared to return prior to Week 17, the Steelers stuck with Mason Rudolph for the final two regular-season games and the wild-card game against the Buffalo Bills.