Can WR George Pickens reach his full potential with this Pittsburgh Steelers team?
That’s the question Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk raised recently, and though his reasoning by way of comparison might be fair to critique, the reality is that we don’t actually have the answer yet. Not that we typically would in a player’s second preseason.
“The thing about George Pickens that makes him more of an intriguing figure for me…is Pittsburgh’s experience with Chase Claypool”, Florio said recently. “A couple years ago it’s like, ‘They’ve got something special here in Chase Claypool. Why aren’t they throwing to him more? Why aren’t they using him more? What’s going on here? What don’t we know about Chase Claypool that’s causing the Steelers to not use him the way they could, the way they should?’”.
That’s a lot of questions, and many Steelers fans would be happy to answer them, beginning by pointing out the fact that he has done nothing since being traded to the Chicago Bears albeit with an abbreviated opportunity to do so thus far. Many felt Claypool was overdrafted and that he overperformed as a rookie. So far, his career arc supports that.
Pickens also had a successful rookie year, albeit one not quite so explosive and with less than half the scoring output as Claypool, but he showed just as much talent and was clearly in a less able position to make an impact right away due to circumstances beyond his control. He has shown very promising growth so far this offseason.
But I don’t think it’s unreasonable to question if QB Kenny Pickett will ever be as good a player or prolific a passer as Ben Roethlisberger was. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to be skeptical of offensive coordinator Matt Canada’s ability to get the most out of the weapons that he has access to.
And I think we’re still learning who Frisman Jackson is as a wide receivers coach. Can he harness Pickens’ full potential? The Steelers have cycled through position coaches there since Richard Mann retired, notwithstanding the tragic passing of his immediate successor, Darryl Drake.
“It makes me kind of lean forward even more with George Pickens to see how it’s gonna play out. Are they going to take full advantage of this special talent that they’ve found?”, Florio said. “With Claypool, we’ve got to start asking, do they know how to use, do they know how to develop, do they know how to cultivate a talent like that? Or is it wasted in the Pittsburgh offense? That’s why it’s more of a pressing question for me with Pickens because it never came to fruition the way it could have with Claypool”.
The thing is, it’s not just Claypool. I’ve brought up this subject before and it wasn’t exactly met kindly by most, but the reality is the Steelers’ more recent history of drafting at the wide receiver position is a little less stellar than is its reputation.
While their run of receivers can easily compete with anybody else’s via the draft, it hasn’t been an onslaught of home runs. Even if there are extenuating circumstances for some such as injuries, players like James Washington, Markus Wheaton, and Sammie Coates are already largely forgotten.
JuJu Smith-Schuster was an extremely promising player and showed last year with the Kansas City Chiefs that he’s still very much capable of making plays. Martavis Bryant is arguably the most talented wide receiver the Steelers drafted between Antonio Brown (and Emmanuel Sanders) and Pickens, or at least Diontae Johnson. But he smoked himself out of the league, and once he was gone, he could never find his way back.
