As the NFL offseason draws to a close here as training camps get underway over the course of the next week, many media outlets are throwing out their final season superlatives before the preseason begins.
One of those often-used superlatives is projecting every team’s “breakout” player. For the Pittsburgh Steelers, QB Kenny Pickett has often been referenced as the team’s breakout player for 2023, expecting to make a notable leap from his rookie season into Year Two. However, Gilberto Manzano and Matt Verderame of Sports Illustrated strayed from the popular Pickett selection in their breakout predictions for every NFL team, choosing WR George Pickens instead as a second-year player they expect to see a big jump from in 2023.
“Pickens didn’t have a 1,000-yard receiving season like fellow rookie wideouts Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave, but he might have had the reception of the year in 2022,” Manzano and Verderame wrote on Pickens for SI. “Pickens made a diving one-handed catch vs. the Browns in Week 3, which resembled Odell Beckham’s memorable one from ’14. That was just one of many acrobatic catches from Pickens last season, and there could be plenty more in his second season if he and Pickett are able to improve the Steelers’ passing game. Pickens, a ’22 second-round pick, finished last season with 52 catches for 801 yards and four touchdowns.”
Pickens flashed in a major way for the Steelers last season, showcasing impressive body control, strong hands at the catch point, and the ability to win contested catches in tight coverage on a weekly basis. Pickens showed out against some of the better CBs in the league as a rookie giving the likes of Marlon Humphrey, D.J. Reed, and others with combative catches that looked routine.
Pickens needs to become a more nuanced route runner and generate more yards after the catch if he hopes to become a true alpha WR in the league one day, but he has been up for the task, working with Pickett and the rest of the skill position players to become a more well-rounded receiver heading into his second season.
There were plenty of flashes on tape last season by Pickens to get most Steelers Nation excited for what his follow-up performance will be in 2023. While the receiving core may have plenty mouths to feed, Pickens will have every opportunity to make that second-year leap and establish himself as one of the more talented pass catchers in the game this season.
