Ever since Pittsburgh Steelers WR George Pickens set foot in Pittsburgh hype has surrounded him. His ability to make big plays was showcased throughout training camp and the regular season last year. Entering Year Two, hype for Pickens is through the roof, but he isn’t phased by any of it.
Pickens spoke with the media today, via Steelers.com, before practice and said all the hype surrounding him motivates him.
“I just let it motivate me ’cause I ain’t gonna lie since a kid I always been like a guy who had all the looks and stuff like that, but I just keep working,” said Pickens. “I always say that ’cause that’s what it’s going bring. But me personally, no I don’t really let that get to me, I just keep playing.”
A year of improvement from Pickens would be massive for an offense that often sputtered last season. Pickens was one of the best weapons on offense last year, putting up a stat line of 52 catches, 801 yards, and four touchdowns. His connection with QB Kenny Pickett was also very good as both second-year players are now looking to take the second-year jump.
As Pickens said, he was always a highly touted athlete, and if you believe the hype it will prevent you from reaching your ceiling if you get complacent. Pickens, a four-star recruit coming out of high school, performed well at Georgia, leading to him becoming the Steelers’ second-round draft pick in 2022.
Obviously, there is still room for Pickens to improve. A huge threat on the deep ball last season, his route tree was limited and if he is going to take that next step he is going to need to expand it. The good news is that it looks like that might be happening as Alex Kozora noted Pickens was moved around a bit on offense yesterday in practice.
Pickens has a lot of work to do before he can consider himself in the upper echelon of wide receivers, but the talent is certainly there. He’s arguably the best contested-catch receiver in the NFL, and if he puts the rest of his game together, then watch out. But according to him, don’t worry about the hype phasing him, he’s just going to keep working.
