Over the last four weeks, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens has emerged as a legitimate No. 1-caliber receiver in the NFL, seizing upon a huge opportunity due to the absence of wide receiver Diontae Johnson.
Though his growth and development — and overall production — in that true No. 1 role without Johnson has been a bit of a surprise to some, it isn’t one for Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin.
Speaking with reporters Tuesday during his post-bye press conference ahead of the Week Seven matchup against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium, Tomlin spoke highly of his second-year receiver, stating that Pickens has taken a step forward “every day of his professional life” with the Steelers.
“That guy has taken a step forward every day of his professional life, if you want to frame it in that way and make a story about it, because Diontae has missed some games, have at it.” Tomlin said regarding Pickens, according to video via the Steelers’ YouTube page. “But he is a second-year player, and it is reasonable to expect him to get better each and every week, because it is his second lap around the track and exposure to the National Football League.
“So, he is getting better, period, not because of anyone else’s presence or lack thereof.”
Coming off of a 51-catch, 802-yard, four-touchdown season as a rookie in a very clear, defined No. 2 role opposite Johnson, Pickens has seized upon the opportunity with Johnson out the last month.
So far on the year, Pickens has 22 receptions for 393 yards and two touchdowns, putting up two 100-yard receiving games in the process. On top of that, he’s handled the true No. 1 role well, seeing games with targets of 10, 6, 7 and 10 with Johnson out of the lineup.
Even with teams rotating coverage towards him and paying more attention to him in the passing game, Pickens has found a win to win consistently. He had four receptions for 127 yards and a touchdown in Week Two against the Cleveland Browns and then followed that up with four catches for 75 yards against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week Three on the road.
Though he was quiet in Week Four against Houston, hauling in just three passes for 25 yards, Pickens broke out for a career-high 130 receiving yards and a touchdown on six catches against the Baltimore Ravens in Week Five. He hauled in the game-winning 41-yard touchdown pass down the sideline in front of Baltimore’s Marlon Humphrey, lifting the Steelers to a 17-10 win.
So far this season, Pickens has graded out at a 73.5 overall from Pro Football Focus, which seems rather low, though he did have a career-best 90.1 overall grade in Week Five against the Ravens.
Coming into his second season, Pickens needed to develop a larger route tree and add some yards-after-catch (YAC) ability to his game. So far, so good for the former Georgia star.
Pickens has already surpassed his rookie total in YAC, sitting at 138 yards on the year after recording just 110 as a rookie. He’s also averaging 2.25 yards per route run, up from 1.38 as a rookie, showing his development as a route runner. Though he hasn’t been the contested-catch monster he was as a rookie (just 2-for-11 on the year), he is really rounding out his game well, which has Tomlin and the Steelers pleased.
Things should only get better for Pickens with the return of Johnson in Week Seven against the Rams, too, leading to more one-on-one matchups for him to exploit.
