George Pickens was a meme the day he was drafted out of Georgia in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. The tall, talented wide receiver is one of the most hyped players on the roster—and maybe one of the most hyped young players around the NFL.
Big things are expected of him entering his second season after flashing his potential as a rookie, and everybody knows a lot of those things are going to come down the field. It’s part of the Steelers’ plan going forward after he showed last year he can make those plays. That’s why they went after it on snap one of yesterday’s practice—a sign of things to come from QB Kenny Pickett.
“First play on the play sheet and it was the perfect look to make that throw”, he told Peter King about going deep to Pickens to start the first team session. “It was one-high. If George is one-on-one, I’m gonna take that matchup, and it kind of played out that way. I’m always gonna give him those opportunities to go make those plays”.
The pass was incomplete, well-defended by future Hall of Fame cornerback Patrick Peterson, which in itself is good to see, but you want that guy that you want to launch the ball to every time the defense gives you a decent enough look.
Pickens led all rookies last season with 19 contested catches, according to Pro Football Focus, which was also the most contested catches they had ever charted by a rookie. He was also among the league leaders generally.
Beyond that, among those with a high volume of contested targets, he had the highest percentage of contested targets, but also the highest percentage of receptions on contested targets—the only qualifying player to reel in more than two thirds of such pass attempts coming his way.
And most of them came off the arm of Pickett, so it’s no wonder he’s eager to keep that going. “His catch radius. You just have to put it in his zip code”, he told King. “Every time I put the ball up for him, I have no doubts that he’s gonna make the play. And if he doesn’t, he doesn’t, we’ll go back to him again”.
“I have a ton of confidence in him”, he went on. “He wants to improve his route-running and have a more [complete] route tree, which he’s continuing to do, and it’s been great to see, so I’m really excited for him”.
Pickens caught 52 passes on 84 targets last season for 801 yards and four touchdowns. While those numbers might look modest, he led the team in touchdown receptions and was second in yards behind Diontae Johnson, third in receptions behind Johnson and Pat Freiermuth.
Both Pickett and Pickens are flirting with big jumps in year two, which could be transformative for the Steelers’ offense, not just in 2023, but for perhaps the next decade to come or more. After all, that’s what they drafted them to do.
