Former Pittsburgh Steelers safety and current Emmy Award-winning ESPN analyst Ryan Clark certainly made some headlines Tuesday, saying that Steelers second-year wide receiver George Pickens is “much more talented” than All-Pro wide receiver Justin Jefferson.
It wasn’t all that outlandish of a thought though, at least from the perspective of veteran cornerback Patrick Peterson.
Peterson has a unique perspective on the discussion, having been a teammate of Jefferson’s for two seasons in Minnesota and is now dealing with Pickens in Pittsburgh. Speaking with reporters after practice Wednesday at Saint Vincent College, Peterson agreed with Clark on the “much more talented” side of things between Pickens and Jefferson.
“Yeah, I definitely can see it. GP is very, very raw. He’s very raw, he’s very unpredictable when the ball is coming his way far as his catch ability,” Peterson said regarding Pickens, according to video via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Like I said on my podcast the other day on All Things Covered, I called his hands magnet because if the ball coming anywhere near him, he finds a way to come down with a catch. But Justin [Jefferson] is a savant of the position. He’s really, really in tuned in how to manipulate the defensive back, how to set his routes up.
“He’s going into Year Four, G’s going into year two. It’s still some things that he wants to get better at. But the talent, I probably have to agree with Ryan on that one.”
It’s important to note that Clark was adamant in his statement regarding Pickens being “more talented” than Jefferson. That wasn’t Clark saying Pickens was the better receiver than Jefferson; he was simply saying he has more talent. Clark went on to praise Jefferson for all the little things that makes receivers great, calling Jefferson a savant in his own right.
But there is no denying the physical talent and abilities of Pickens.
Entering Year Two in the NFL, Pickens is coming off of a great rookie season that saw him become a contested-catch monster with some absurd grabs throughout the season. He did a lot of that on raw ability alone, which is rather remarkable.
Now, he’s focused on improving in all the little areas, from creating ample separation within routes, getting in and out of his breaks crisply, improving his route running tenfold, and more. The talent is there, without a question, as is the ability. But he needs to develop it. It’s not hard to see it.
Clark, a former defensive back, sees it. So does Peterson. On the surface, it seems like an outlandish statement right now for Clark to say Pickens has “much more talent” but when you actually listen to the discussion and see what Clark is truly hitting on, there’s a lot of truth to it.
If Pickens can put it all together, look out.
