Hopefully Rich Eisen keeps talking a ton about Kenny Pickett to George Pickens. After interviewing Pickens on his show earlier this week, Eisen kept the hype train rolling by including Pickett-to-Pickens as one of the top NFL duo’s ready to take the next step. They were No. 2 on Eisen’s list of the top five players poised to make a big leap and the only duo of the five.
“It’s a combo platter with some Heinz ketchup on the side,” Eisen said with some pandering that’ll make a Yinzer’s heart swoon. “You can be ‘Acrisure’ that Pickett to Pickens combination is ready to take the next step in 2023. I think Kenny Pickett to George Pickens is going to be the pick to click in Pittsburgh, Pa.”
Both heading into their second seasons, Pickett to Pickens was a solid combination in training camp. Occasionally, their connection generated some static but overall, both players are coming off a solid three weeks of practice. This is Pickett’s team and he looked poised and calm while continuing to take great care of the football. He threw only one interception all of camp after throwing a lone pick following the team’s bye week in 2022.
Pickens was named our top winner of camp, finding the end zone seven times to tie Darnell Washington for the team lead. While he made spectacular one-handed grabs on Joey Porter Jr. and James Pierre, it was his ability to run a full route tree and do the “boring” over the middle that made him a top winner.
No longer is he just the vertical receiver. He can run underneath and showed his ability to get YAC with 21 yards of it on his 33-yard touchdown in the preseason opener. By comparison, the most YAC he had on a reception last season was just 10 yards. He finished as the NFL’s worst after-catch receiver in football at just two yards per grab.
For Eisen, he sees Pickett and Pickens having solid years.
“Very productive combination getting ready to show everybody,” he said.
Eisen concluded by teasing the Steelers’ great Week One matchup against the San Francisco 49ers. Pittsburgh will open a season at home for the first time since 2014 and it’ll be a strong litmus test to see how much the team has improved. They want to be the 49ers of the east, a team with a strong ground game, mobile quarterback, a good scheme that marries the pass and run game with a potent pass rush. Pittsburgh has a knack for beating quality opponents in Week One, Buffalo two years ago, Cincinnati last season. If they can knock off the 49ers, their season will begin with tons of promise.
The only name Pickett and Pickens lost out to was Detroit Lions DE Aidan Hutchinson, coming off a 9.5 sack rookie season. Check out the whole list below.
