The chemistry with a quarterback and a wide receiver doesn’t just happen overnight. It takes thousands of reps and years of work together to develop a mind meld between the passer and the pass catcher, developing a sort of telepathy to be on the same page regarding timing, ball placement, and various other factors when it comes to completing passes in all quadrants of the field.
We’ve seen it happen with the greats like Joe Montana and Jerry Rice or Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison where the two were so in-sync that the QB knew exactly where his receiver would be during a route and where exactly he wanted the ball for his receiver to have the best chance to come down with it in coverage. We saw this occur multiple times between Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown for the better part of a decade and now see it on the opposite sideline with the Bengals duo of Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase.
WR Allen Robinson II is the new cat on the block, having been acquired from the Los Angeles Rams this offseason. While coming back from a foot injury that cut short his 2022 season, Robinson is wasting no time getting on the same page of Steelers QB Kenny Pickett as Pickett has lauded Robinson’s work ethic and the chemistry they are quickly developing together during OTAs and minicamp.
However, Robinson recognizes the need to work with Pickett outside of the facility to “catch up” with the rest of the guys in the room and intends to run routes with Pickett during the dead of the offseason prior to the start of training camp on July 26.
“That is the plan,” Robinson said during mandatory minicamp according to Joe Rutter of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “We’ve talked it through. We’re both in New Jersey, so it can happen.”
Kenny Pickett has done a good job taking charge in his second season as the Steelers’ starting QB, getting the receivers together in Florida back in February prior to the start of free agency and the NFL Draft. While this may be seen by some as a lack of “live reps” against the defense, it does allow the QB and the receivers a chance to get timing down on different route concepts and communicate the delivery of the football at specific spots.
Robinson wasn’t a part of the team when these workouts took place, but he fully intends to get a lot of work in with Pickett as he continues to ramp up from his previous foot ailment to be fully ready when the team reports to Latrobe for training camp.
For Allen Robinson II to make an impact on this team in 2023, he needs to be fully healthy as well as on the same page with Pickett to draw targets and get utilized to the level he is capable of. All signs point to Robinson being all systems go from a health standpoint, and extra work during the offseason should help Robinson be on the same page with Pickett when the two take the field together for the first time in preseason action.
