Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett discusses Heisman hopes, NFL prospects and more

Coming into the 2021 college football season, players such as Spencer Rattler and D.J. Uiagalelei dominated the early Heisman Trophy conversation.

Now, more than halfway through the season, another quarterback has emerged seemingly from nowhere as a legitimate contender for the sport's top individual honor: Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett.

Pickett is currently fourth in the country with 23 passing touchdowns, and he has thrown only one interception through seven games.

With such a successful senior campaign underway, Pickett sat down with 2004 Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart of FOX Sports after he was selected as Leinart's Power Player of the Week.

While this has been a dream season of sorts for Pickett, it almost didn't happen, as he considered turning pro after his junior year. But he wanted to make sure he was fully prepared before making the leap to the NFL.

"The more you see nowadays, guys are kind of rushing to leave, rushing to go," Pickett said. "I wanted to make sure no stone was left unturned."

It proved to be a well-calculated decision by Pickett, not only because last year's QB class was loaded but also because he has had a chance to improve himself and his team.

One year after finishing 5-5, Pittsburgh is one of only two ranked teams in the ACC and is well-positioned to play in the conference championship game.

Pickett believes the continuity of the players, as well as the coaching staff, is a big reason Pittsburgh has enjoyed such a fruitful season thus far.

"I think all being together for three years in the same system … speaking offensively, you know how big that is and having a coordinator that you're so comfortable with to where you know his offense inside and out," he said.

If Pickett had gone pro, he wouldn't have had the opportunity to take down Clemson, which he was able to do with a 27-17 victory last week.

Clemson has reigned supreme in the ACC for the past six seasons, so the win was proof for Pickett that Pittsburgh can compete with the best programs in the country.

"I would just say it's validating," he said. "It's validation for all the work that we have put in. This was a big game coming in, and we knew with all the momentum that we had and at this point in the season, this was huge for our program."

Watch Pickett's full interview with Matt Leinart below: