When Diontae Johnson went down with an injury in Week One, all eyes turned to George Pickens. He was set to assume the unquestioned alpha receiver role, at least for the next few weeks.
Being the alpha receiver was something a lot of people saw in Pickens’ future, but no one expected the future to come so soon. Was he ready for the challenge so early in his career?
Well, Pickens has answered that question, along with any other questions people had about him with a resounding yes. He’s looked every bit the part of a number-one receiver, even in an offense that has been held together with duct tape surrounding him.
And this poses a new question – just how important has Pickens been to the Steelers in 2023? I took a dive into some statistics to try and measure his impact.
Pickens has recorded a solid 393 receiving yards this season, which is good for 13th in the NFL. The Pittsburgh Steelers have just 939 net passing yards as a team (subtracting yards lost from sacks), slotting them 25th in the league. So Pickens has a whopping 42% of the Steelers’ gross passing output this season, which is quite impressive.
How impressive, you ask? It ranks him sixth in the NFL, behind just Chicago Bears WR D.J. Moore, Cincinnati Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase, Philadelphia Eagles WR A.J. Brown, Las Vegas Raiders WR Davante Adams and Los Angeles Rams WR Puka Nacua.
Sixth is impressive on its own but look at that list again. Only the Eagles have an above .500 record, and A.J. Brown is flanked by the likes of Devonta Smith, Dallas Goedert, and D’Andre Swift to help take the heat off of him. The same can be said for a lot of the guys on that list, their quality surrounding weapons makes it hard for the defense to focus on them. Not only is Pickens the only real threat on the Steelers right now, he’s also helping lead them to wins.
The saving grace for the Steelers’ offense has been the big play. They have snuck out a few wins thanks to the defense holding strong and a few timely splash plays. To no one who has followed this team’s surprise, George Pickens has been a huge part of that too.
The Steelers have had 14 pass plays of 20 yards or more this season, and Pickens was on the receiving end for eight of them or 57% of the total. This 57% again ranks him sixth, behind Minnesota Vikings WR Justin Jefferson, D.J. Moore, A.J Brown, Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR Mike Evans, and Cleveland Browns WR Amari Cooper (who has just four 20+ yard pass plays, but the Browns only have a measly five as a team).
Again, only the Eagles and now the Buccaneers are over .500 teams, and Mike Evans has a star fellow wide receiver in Chris Godwin that opponents have to worry about. For Pickens, it’s certainly a good sign that he’s surrounded by the caliber of names that are on this list.
When looking at these stats, it becomes clearer just how much impact George Pickens has had on the 2023 Steelers. And while it feels wild to write, I would argue that Pickens has had just as much of an impact on his team winning football games over the first five weeks as any other receiver in the league. Is he the best receiver in football right now? No, certainly not. But when opportunity called, Pickens picked up the phone, and that says a lot about him as a teammate and a football player even in just year two.
