Now that the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2023 season is getting underway after the team finished above .500 but failing to make the postseason last year, we turn our attention to the next chapter of Steelers football and everything that entails. One thing that it means is that some stock evaluations are going to start taking on more specific contexts as we get into the season, reflecting more immediate plusses and minus rather than trends over long periods. The nature of the evaluation, whether short-term or long-term, will be noted in the reasoning section below.
Player: WR George Pickens
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: The second-year wide receiver has been anointed the next great one. Now all he has to do is actually go out there and prove it. After compiling a new list of highlight-reel catches during training camp and the preseason, he is primed to make that significant second-year jump in 2023. He’s also talked about being more composed this year, which won’t hurt a thing.
Today is the day. Day one of the true start of the Kenny Pickett era, and with him his presumed new number one receiver, George Pickens. Drafted together in the top two rounds a year ago, they are on a parallel developmental path and should continue to grow together in leaps and bounds.
I expect we’ll see that early in today’s season opener against the San Francisco 49ers. While they have an opportunistic defense, they still allowed the seventh-most explosive passing plays thrown against them in 2022, and there’s no reason to think that will be better this year. Cornerbacks Charvarius Ward and Deommodore Lenoir can be beaten one-on-one, especially by a player like Pickens.
The biggest issue may be the Steelers’ offensive line holding it together against the 49ers’ imposing front seven, which now includes former Pittsburgh DT Javon Hargrave breathing right down the neck of C Mason Cole and their guards.
But we should also see them employ Pickens on a more diverse route tree, including timing routes that should allow Pickett to get the ball out of his hands and into Pickens’ quickly. There will be deep shots as well, when the opportunities are there, but this will be a more balanced effort for the entire unit.
One thing the 49ers didn’t do last year was give up many passing touchdowns—just 20, which was tied for the fifth-fewest in the league. Pickens only had four touchdowns last year, which actually led the team, sad to say, so it’s hard to predict that he will find the end zone.
But his fuller, more robust route tree should help with that. His preseason touchdown is a textbook example, catching a pass on an inside slant and then taking it and running with it. It’s all about run after the catch and finding ways to put him in those situations. That’s how San Francisco’s offense thrives. And that’s what the Steelers want to do this year. They can with weapons like Pickens and Diontae Johnson.
