George Pickens to the main stage, please. Diontae Johnson is officially a Carolina Panthers, which means we must begin prefixing him with former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver. The two teams swapped late-round picks while the Steelers also acquired starting CB Donte Jackson in the process.
On a pure talent and on-field basis, most agree that the Panthers “won” the trade. Of course, we have yet to see the full ramifications of the deal. The most obvious ramification, and the most significant, is vaulting another into the central role. George Pickens, you’re the man now, dog (you don’t know how hard I fought my impulse to make that the title).
A second-round pick out of Georgia in 2022, the media anointed Pickens the next great thing by draft’s end. He has been the recipient of consistent hype throughout his two-year career when he’s behaving himself. Now, with a new quarterback, a new offensive coordinator, and new role, he must live up to it all.
Pickens caught 52 passes for 801 yards and 4 touchdowns as a rookie. He followed that up with 63 catches for 1,140 yards and 5 touchdowns last season, also leading everyone in YPC. He’s had some stunningly good games, and you can put his highlight reel up against anybody’s.
But now he has to be the everything guy.
And that’s the role that he wants, to his credit. He’s on record saying he believes he is the best wide receiver in the whole world. He has the opportunity now to prove it, at least in theory. The Steelers switched out key components from the past two years, which they hope amount to improvements.
They fired offensive coordinator Matt Canada during the 2023 season, and more recently hired Arthur Smith. While not yet official, they are reportedly signing nine-time Pro Bowl QB Russell Wilson. He may not be in the prime of his career at 35, but he still finds the end zone better than Kenny Pickett.
Now without sharing targets with Johnson, without Canada, without Pickett, can George Pickens feast without fasting? Can he be a consistently great player, the reliable target who makes the necessary plays—and makes them easier?
Pickens caught five-plus passes for 100-plus yards in consecutive games last season only to follow that up with three catches for 21 combined yards over the next two weeks. You cannot have these ebbs and flows from your No. 1 target. And he received 10 targets against those three catches, so they looked his way.
Depending upon how else they address the skill positions this offseason, he’s liable to see 10-plus targets with regularity. But his ability to create separation will play a role in how frequently the ball finds him. That remains an area of improvement for him, even if he made some strides a year ago.
Pickens only has two career games with 10-plus targets—exactly 10 in each, as a matter of fact. He caught four passes in one for 127 yards and a touchdown. In the other, he caught six for 130 and a touchdown. In six games with eight-plus targets, he averages 118 yards with two touchdowns with a 64.2 catch percentage.
