There are very few wide receivers in Steelers history who were as fun to watch as Martavis Bryant.
This isn’t to say that Bryant was the best WR to watch as Antonio Brown was the best receiver in football for over half a decade and Hines Ward was consistently good and helped contribute to multiple championship teams during his time in Pittsburgh. Rather, Bryant was just an exciting WR to watch.
The 6’4, 210-lb former fourth-round pick out of Clemson was a physical specimen at the position. He had the height and size to win contested catches as well as the speed and burst to win as a vertical deep threat, putting fear in opposing defenses tasked with covering him as he could take the top off at any moment. Bryant could run like a deer in the open field, making him a scoring threat nearly any time he touched the football — in the red zone, down the field or close to the LOS thanks to his YAC ability.
Sadly, Bryant was never able to build off the promise he flashed his first two seasons as he got suspended multiple times for violating the league’s substance abuse policy, causing him to miss the first four games of his sophomore campaign and his entire 2016 season. After returning to Pittsburgh for 2017, the Steelers opted to trade Bryant during the 2018 NFL Draft to the Raiders for a third-round pick. He played just one season in Oakland before falling out of the league altogether.
Bryant was an immensely talented receiver who oozed potential to become one of the league’s best big-play deep threats, but he couldn’t get out of his own way. Now nearly a decade since Bryant was drafted by Pittsburgh, the Steelers have another young, talented pass catcher that teammates and fans alike hold in a high regard: WR George Pickens.
Pickens isn’t an identical player to Bryant. Bryant had more game-breaking speed and ability to create after the catch than Pickens does while Pickens is a more natural pass catcher who wins better in contested-catch situations than Bryant did. However, the two receivers are height/weight/speed specimens who have good size and can win vertically down the field. Both are raw when it comes nuanced route running and having a diversified route tree, but still often win thanks to their physical skills at a young age.
Pickens flashed as a rookie, leading Pittsburgh in YPR while going over 800 receiving yards and five total TDs. He put the entire league on notice just three games into his career with what should be considered the catch of the 2022 season against the Browns, making the most difficult catches last season look rather routine on a weekly basis.
The hype surrounding Pickens is eerily like that which Bryant had after his rookie season given the talent and upside for more. While Pickens’ character has been called into question in the past, like Bryant, he appears to have his head on straight when it comes to the topic of substance abuse, which has become less of a problem in the NFL over the years. WR Coach Frisman Jackson has talked about the expectation of Pickens making that second-year leap this season to reach the potential he has as a receiver in the league. Pickens has reiterated the same desire to become great, focusing on his route running to become a more well-rounded receiver in 2023.
Pickens may never win with blazing speed down the field like Bryant did back when he was in Pittsburgh, but he is a big, young, exciting pass catcher that you can’t help but think of the possibilities should he reach his max potential. It’s a similar thought I had about Bryant and the game changer he could’ve been in Pittsburgh should he have stayed on track. Here’s hoping that Pickens can become what Bryant was supposed to be in Pittsburgh. With the way things are trending this far, it looks like that could be a reality in the near future.
