Outside of George Pickens, the Pittsburgh Steelers don’t have anybody at wide receiver anybody gets excited about. For months and months, talking heads have insisted that they must trade for another wide receiver. They would be doing themselves a disservice, so the argument goes, if they don’t add to the position.
Pickens isn’t so sure that the Steelers need to take that kind of step to address the position, though. “I don’t even know about any of that”, he said yesterday when asked about the Steelers potentially pursuing a wide receiver in trade via Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “I just come out and practice”.
Many argue that defenses will take Pickens away if the Steelers don’t add another strong wide receiver. But he is not afraid of that challenge—indeed, he suggests that it is nothing new. When Diontae [Johnson] was here, we were both double-teamed,” he said. It will be the same treatment. If you’re a good player, coordinators are going to pay attention to you.”
Pickens did have some of his best games of the season when Johnson missed an early stretch. In the four games Johnson missed, he caught 17 passes for 357 yards and two touchdowns. That included a four-catch, 127-yard, one-score game against the Cleveland Browns in Week 2. He also caught six for 130 and a touchdown against the Baltimore Ravens, including the game-winning score late.
A 2022 second-round pick, George Pickens has 115 career receptions for 1,941 yards and 9 touchdowns. Last season, he led the NFL with 18.1 yards per catch, particularly thanks to a late string of big plays. He also caught five passes for 50 yards in their playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills.
Outside of Pickens, though, there are question marks surrounding everybody. Calvin Austin III has flashed, but he is still undersized. Rookie Roman Wilson had a good day yesterday, but how ready is he? Van Jefferson, Quez Watkins, and Scotty Miller are all essentially bargain castoffs from other teams.
It’s too soon to say whether the Steelers need to trade for another wide receiver, but it seems rather possible. They have a pretty long history of making trades during training camp, and a wide receiver would be the move. They don’t have to add Brandon Aiyuk to pair with Pickens, but a guy who would actually play is more realistic.
No player is ever going to say that, yes, his room isn’t good enough, of course. It’s not exactly a revelation that George Pickens didn’t throw all the receivers under the bus. But at least outwardly, it seems to reflect the Steelers’ broader view at this time.
