There’s a lot of excitement and anticipation coming out of the preseason for all 32 teams across the NFL landscape, but that excitement and anticipation seems to be sky-high surrounding the Pittsburgh Steelers.
After going 3-0 in the preseason, looking dominant on both sides of the football and seeing a handful of key young pieces take significant steps forward, the Steelers have the makings of a very good team in 2023.
Of course, it all comes down to second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett and the progress he can make in 2023.
Good news, though: Good Morning Football co-host Peter Schrager named Pickett and popular second-year receiver George Pickens as his clear “winner” of the preseason Monday morning.
Together, the two combined for three receptions for 75 yards and a touchdown, with that touchdown being of the explosive-play variety from 33 yards out in the preseason opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Outside of that touchdown reception, Pickens had an 8-yard reception against the Buffalo Bills at Acrisure Stadium and then a 35-yard reception last Thursday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium against the Atlanta Falcons.
Those three catches were a continuation of the connection from late last season and then throughout training camp, which has expectations high entering the 2023 season.
“Are we talking about a real QB-wide receiver duo that we have to reckon with this year?” Schrager said on NFL Network regarding the Pickett-Pickens connection for the Black and Gold. “What if Pickens comes out this year and has 100 catches and does this every week? And what if Pickett keeps up what he did in the preseason?
“… If you’re a Steelers fan, you probably went into last season like ‘I don’t know, 20th overall? Is he truly the future in Pittsburgh?’ Then he finishes the season really good and you think ‘alright we got a guy.’ But then you come into the preseason like ‘we got our guy!’ … I think the Steelers have won, and I can’t wait to see them play.”
Throughout the offseason much of the attention offensively has been focused on Pickett’s ascension to a true franchise quarterback who now has ownership of the offense under third-year coordinator Matt Canada, as well as the absurd physical feats of Pickens, who seems to make the highlight reel catches day after day look very, very easy.
Together, the duo made magic happen in 2022. Pickett had a 97.6 QBR when targeting Pickens last season, the best by any quarterback targeting any receiver in 2022 with a minimum of 50 attempts. The Pickett-to-Pickens combination is a catchy moniker overall, but it has the makings of the next great quarterback-wide receiver duo in Steelers history, which has featured names like Bradshaw and Swann, Bradshaw and Stallworth, Roethlisberger and Ward, and Roethlisberger and Brown.
Pickett-to-Pickens is catchier. Hopefully it fulfills all the hype it has generated this offseason and performs on the field like some of those other combinations in Steelers history have.
The Steelers certainly seem to have a guy under center, and a legit star at receiver. That’s very promising moving forward and makes the Steelers Schrager’s clear-cut winner coming out of the preseason.
