Pittsburgh Steelers CB Donte Jackson is itching for a piece of WR George Pickens after hearing about his battles with CB Joey Porter Jr. last year. The team’s undisputed top target, Pickens is deadly in one-on-one drills and can make defenders look bad. For Jackson, though, the spirit of competition is all about making the team better. And perhaps there’s a little personal glory involved in rising to the challenge, as well.
“No doubt. Definitely looking forward to being part of that”, Jackson said about facing Pickens, via the team’s website. “Me and George even talked about that. We’re both excited to go out there and compete”.
The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted George Pickens in the second round in 2022, and Joey Porter Jr. a year later. Pickens quickly established himself as a playmaking phenom, and Porter had to play catch-up. But even Jackson believes those battles in practice probably helped him grow up fact.
“Everybody’s got one goal for the season, and that’s to be the last team standing, but it all starts here”, Jackson said, and that includes squaring off against teammates like Pickens. “All these competitions, all these battles regardless of the position, they’re all important. I think everybody’s ready to attack one another to have a great end result. We’re all excited for them, and I’m excited to see those guys close up, too. I got a little feel for them at OTAs”.
The Steelers acquired Jackson via trade earlier this offseason in exchange for WR Diontae Johnson from the Carolina Panthers. Now in his seventh season, he is excited about playing for a franchise like the Steelers. He is coming off a down year with zero interceptions, though, after returning from major injury.
The fact that the Steelers traded Diontae Johnson for Donte Jackson does seem to speak volumes about how confident they are in George Pickens, though. They significantly weakened the wide receiver depth, hoping that Roman Wilson can help fill the void to add a cornerback.
They believe that Jackson will be a good pair with Porter, though, and not just to share duties covering Pickens. In reality, they are probably going to be fighting to take reps against him, both hoping to win the day. If a Steelers defensive back gets the better of Pickens in practice, that’s a lot of cachet for 24 hours.
While Steelers fans want to see George Pickens vs. Joey Porter Jr. as much as possible, Donte Jackson is going to try to make it a tag team. And both sides of the ball should be better off for it. At least that is the plan, and the sort of competition that head coach Mike Tomlin seeks to foster.
