At the height of their powers, Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger and WR Antonio Brown were one of the best quarterback/wide receiver duos in the NFL. Per StatMuse.com, Brown had 78 touchdowns and 10,786 receiving yards on 804 catches while playing 120 games with Roethlisberger.
So when WR George Pickens joined Randy Baumann and the DVE Morning Show Wednesday morning, he was asked about that connection and how he feels his relationship with QB Kenny Pickett is coming along.
“I feel like we’re getting to that point,” Pickens said. “It’s only been two years, but I totally know what you’re talking about with Ben and AB. Where it got to a point to where it was just second nature, or sometimes he’d be scrambling out and there’s three guys on him, but he still just throws it. I feel like that’s gonna happen with me and Kenny in probably like Year Five, Year Six, where it’s just automatic.”
There’s a long way to go statistically speaking before true comparisons can be drawn between the Roethlisberger/Brown connection and the Pickett/Pickens connection. However, it’s apparent that Pickett has already developed a level of trust in Pickens during their rookie seasons and throughout training camp.
Part of that trust can be seen in Pickens’ contested-catch numbers last season. He posted the highest completion percentage in the league in contested-catch situations at 67.86 percent and had the third-most contested catches leaguewide with 19, the Pro Football Focus record for most by a rookie since it started tracking the stat in 2016.
As Matthew Marczi put it, the sheer volume of contested-catch situations he was put in is concerning as one-third of all his targets were contested. That being said, it does show a great deal of trust in Pickens’ abilities.
If we were at all worried that Pickett might shy away from continuing to trust Pickens’ ability to win at the catch point, training camp has allayed those fears — particlarly after Pickens turned in one of the craziest catches that you’ll ever see. He beat rookie CB Joey Porter Jr.’s perfect coverage by somehow contorting himself around and over the corner to snag the ball with one hand and come down with it. You almost had to feel bad for the rookie, but the catch was incredible.
So while we all hope to see a continued evolution and elevation of both Pickett’s and Pickens’ games, it’s apparent that there is a true connection between the two after only one year together. Pickens appears to be Pickett’s preferred target throughout camp, and with the ability to make jaw-dropping plays like that, it’s easy to understand why. Now it’s up to them to turn that into points, playoff appearances, and championship contention.
