In addition to an improved run game, one of the major reasons for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ turnaround in the second half of last season was more of a focus on getting the ball to WR George Pickens down the field. QB Kenny Pickett ranked eighth among quarterbacks with an Expected-Points-Added-per-dropback rate of 0.10 in the final five weeks, while he ranked 23rd for the season. The Athletic’s Larry Holder thinks that more attention to Pickens could’ve been the reason for his improvement.
“Maybe it helped that Pickett leaned on Pickens, the team’s 2022 second-round pick. Pickens led all qualified NFL wide receivers (81 WRs) in EPA per target (0.89), EPA per reception (2.0) and average air yards per target (17.0). The rookie wideout snagged two of his four TD receptions in the final five weeks.”
Holder thinks Pickett and Pickens can carry their strong finish from 2022 into the 2023 season, and all indications from the preseason seem to make that a safe bet. The two connected on the first touchdown of the preseason for Pittsburgh, a 33-yard connection on a slant route that showed off Pickens’ improved route tree. It was also the type of play Pickett needs to make more consistently, forgoing the check-down or shorter route to look downfield for the bigger play.
If we see more plays like that one, the Steelers, and specifically Pickett and Pickens, will be just fine in 2023. The two building off their momentum from the end of last season would go a long way toward Pittsburgh’s offense reaching the next level in 2023. The offense has to ascend to at least a top-15 unit in the NFL this season with how strong the AFC is, and Pickett and Pickens’ individual and collective growth is going to help the Steelers in a big way.
Pickens has all the physical traits to be one of the best wide receivers in the world, it’s just a matter of expanding his route tree and route running and doing the little things that it takes to be a world-class wide receiver. He showed some of that in training camp and the preseason, and that has to carry over into the regular season. If Pickens is able to combine his physical attributes with a higher football IQ and more technical aspects, then the league needs to be on notice.
Not only will that help Pickens become a top wideout, but it’ll help Pickett’s development with the Steelers essentially having two No. 1 receivers in Pickens and Diontae Johnson. As the stats outlined by Holder showed, Pickens at his best makes for a very good version of Pickett. In 2023, if we can see that on a grander scale, the Steelers offense is going to make noise.
