The Pittsburgh Steelers took down the Las Vegas Raiders, 23-18, on Sunday night, turning Las Vegas into a near-home game, and the offense had its best showing of the young 2023 NFL season. QB Kenny Pickett threw for two touchdowns and 8.4 yards per attempt, and most importantly no interceptions. One of his touchdowns was a monster throw down the middle of the field to WR Calvin Austin III, who took it the rest of the way for a 72-yard touchdown.
Once again, WR George Pickens is proving to be a reliable target for Pickett with four catches for 75 yards, an average of 18.8 yards per reception, and a long of 32 on six targets. Former Steelers CB Bryant McFadden spoke about the big win on CBS Sports HQ, and the topic of Pickens’ usage through the first three games came up.
“I, for one, believe that George Pickens, with his skill set and the type of talented player he is, he should see double-digit targets per game,” McFadden said. “He is that type of player, but he got involved as well. This is what we need to see moving forward, a sense of consistency.”
Pickens has been targeted 23 times through three games, an average of 7.6 targets per game. He saw a season-high 10 targets in the Week Two win over the Cleveland Browns while his six targets against the Raiders were his lowest yet. That 7.6 targets per game average is up from his 2022 rookie season where he saw 84 targets in 17 games, an average of 4.9.
Pickens should be seeing a lot of targets throughout the early part of the season at the very least with WR Diontae Johnson recovering from his hamstring injury and placed on injured reserve prior to the Cleveland game. However, McFadden believes that double-digit targets should be the norm, and it makes sense. Through three games, Pickens is averaging 10.35 yards per target and 18.3 yards per reception. He’s an incredible athlete who can turn 50/50 balls into 90/10 balls, and he has shown marked improvement in his route running.
The Steelers cannot turn into a one-dimensional team, and Pickett, offensive coordinator Matt Canada, and the offense as a whole need to take advantage of the talent that Pickens is proving to be.
You can watch all of McFadden’s thoughts in the postgame show below.
