If George Pickens is going to prove he’s the Pittsburgh Steelers’ long-term wide receiver, his game will have to substantially grow. Appearing on the 93.7 The Fan Wednesday morning, former Steelers executive Doug Whaley outlined his concerns with Pickens’ game.
“He’s not consistent,” Whaley told The Fan Morning Show. “Now, I hope he becomes consistent and I’m sure that he’s working well. They are working with him to try to be consistent. But to me, I still have to see him being able to run that full route tree. He is really right now almost like a one-trick pony, vertical cutting and vertical breaking routes. That’s it. When have you seen him come with a curl, a comeback, those types of things? That is not his game.”
Whaley, who worked in Pittsburgh’s front office for a decade, is borrowing the adage Mike Tomlin used to describe a young Mike Wallace. A “one-trick pony” known for his speed and vertical ability, Tomlin pushed him to round out his game. Wallace made some strides but never truly became an all-around threat, capping his NFL ceiling. George Pickens will try to avoid the same fate.
To a degree, Whaley has a point. Coming out of college and through his rookie year, Pickens was unquestionably a one-trick pony. His “trick” was elite, running vertically and making spectacular downfield catches, but that was all he brought to the table.
As a sophomore, he added more ways to win. Pickens became a top YAC threat after being one of the league’s worst as a rookie. In 2022, Pickens averaged 2 YAC per receptions. In 2023, that number spiked to 6.2. He won off more short routes, taking slants to the house against the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals. Pickens moved around the formation more often, playing inside 20 percent of the time after seeing only 11 percent of the snaps there his rookie season. During this year’s OTAs, Pickens said he’s working in the slot more than ever before under new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith.
Pickens’ game can and still needs to grow. And he’s never going to be an elite-level route runner. He’s not quite as fluid or smooth to fall into that camp. But Whaley is selling Pickens’ improvements a little short, especially considering he’s still just 23 years old and barely played his final season at Georgia.
