There are two things that are readily apparent about the Pittsburgh Steelers offense so far in 2023. One, the offense is struggling, and that’s putting it kindly. Two, second-year WR George Pickens is really, really good. He leads the team in targets, receptions (27,) receiving yardage (500, next nearest is RB Jaylen Warren at 165 yards,) and first downs (19) while he is also tied for the team lead in receiving touchdowns with TE Pat Freiermuth (two.)
So with all the criticism thrown offensive coordinator Matt Canada’s way this season, it appears that he is going to use the second fact of Pickens being really good to help fix the first fact, the offense being terrible. When Greg Cosell, legendary producer for NFL Films and executive producer/analyst for NFL Matchup, joined USA Today Sports Media Group’s NFL Editor Doug Farrar for “Xs and Os With Greg Cosell And Doug Farrar” on Thursday, he highlighted what Canada is attempting to do to put Pickens in advantageous spots.
“They run four strong, four to one side, to the wide side of the field,” Cosell said. “He’s the single receiver to the boundary. All 11 of his receptions in the last two games have resulted in first downs and eight of his 11 catches, he was aligned as the boundary X, just what I’m speaking about. So this is how they’ve chosen to isolate him as a matchup receiver because he’s a really, really difficult cover.”
We all got a glimpse at how good Pickens could be as a rookie. He had 52 receptions for 801 yards for an average of 15.4 yards per catch and fourth touchdowns. He also converted 38 first downs. Those are really good numbers for a rookie. In year two, he’s already exceeding those numbers on a per-game basis. He’s averaging over one catch more a game, over 36 yards more per game, and picking up one more first down per game. You could argue that he has been producing more in terms of volume of stats due to WR Diontae Johnson missing multiple games, but he’s also averaging 3.1 yards more per reception this year, too.
Cosell can understand why Canada would lean more heavily on Pickens by creating positive matchups for him.
“He’s really smooth, he can run, he’s got phenomenal hands, and he’s really difficult to cover,” Cosell said. “He’s shown the ability to defeat press coverage comfortably. He gets cleanly into his routes. He’s rarely disrupted off the line.”
All those characteristics are desirable in a top wide receiver, and you can take the best advantage of them by trying to isolate that player in one-on-one situations. It also doesn’t hurt that all of those characteristics are in a 6-foot-3, 200-lb body. No wonder it’s hard to disrupt him off the line.
Now if Cosell is seeing this, you can expect opposing defensive coordinators will notice this as well. Then the chess match really begins. Either defenses adjust to help against Pickens which opens up more opportunities for the rest of the offense, or Pickens will continue to feast. Either way, Pickens is getting even more involved and producing which is only a good thing.
