Today is Thanksgiving, a day to be thankful for the blessings we all have received in our lives. The Pittsburgh Steelers have a lot to be thankful for as well, six Super Bowl victories, having one of the highest winning percentages in the Super Bowl era, an amazing fanbase, and a stable ownership group.
This morning, CBS Sports was in the spirit of listing one thing every franchise is thankful for in 2022. Cody Benjamin assigned George Pickens as who the Steelers are most thankful this year.
“They’ve found their next great WR” wrote Benjamin. “Or at least it appears so, with George Pickens flashing Pro Bowl-caliber traits in an otherwise plodding attack. Pittsburgh’s track record of drafting and developing wideouts is unmatched.”
The Steelers have become known as a wide receiver factory in recent years, turning out talents like Antonio Brown, Mike Wallace, Emmanuel Sanders, Martavis Bryant, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and now Pickens.
Pickens was a favorite to win offensive rookie of the year this season, and although that seems unlikely now, it isn’t due to the performance of Pickens. The Steelers offense this year has been bad, due to bad quarterback play, a weak run game, and subpar playcalling. Despite all of this, Pickens has still performed well, scoring two touchdowns on the season and racking up 453 yards. He has made some incredible catches on the season and is always looking to block someone like another Steelers wide receiver who was also a Georgia Bulldog in Hines Ward.
If Pickens ends up being half as good as Ward then Pittsburgh will have struck gold. Pickens looks like a superstar and every time he drops a pass, which does not happen too often, I am shocked. The sure handed rookie wide receiver is developing great chemistry with rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett and there is a potentially generational connection between the two brewing in the Steel City.
Time will tell if the two pan out, but as of now with Pickett improving recently, and Pickens just being an absolute alien at times things look promising. In a season in which almost nothing has gone right for the Steelers, I agree with Benjamin, George Pickens is certainly someone the Pittsburgh Steelers are thankful for.
