They’ve known each other for quite awhile dating back to high school, but Justin Fields and George Pickens have never been teammates at any level.
Until now.
After nearly linking up at Georgia for the 2019 season before Fields transferred to Ohio State ahead of Pickens’ freshman season, the quarterback and receiver are now with the Pittsburgh Steelers and are establishing chemistry and making some eye-opening plays in training camp.
For Fields, he’s having a great time throwing to an “elite” receiver in Pickens. Speaking with CBS Sports’ Bryant McFadden, the former Steelers cornerback, Fields spoke highly of the talented third-year receiver.
“He’s elite. He’s elite in space, he’s elite with the ball in his hands,” Fields said to McFadden regarding Pickens, according to video via NFL on CBS on YouTube. “Fifty-fifty balls aren’t really 50-50 balls. They’re more like 90-10 with him. So, you can throw it up and he’s most likely gonna come down with it. So it’s great having him up here.
“I’ve known George for a long time now, so I’m glad that I’m on the same team with him now. I’m seeing him kind of grow over the years from high school to college to where he is now. He’s getting better and better and better. So, I’m excited for this upcoming year.”
It might be a bit of a stretch to call Pickens an elite receiver at this point, but he can do some spectacular things with the football at the receiving position. On Tuesday, he showed that once again, getting the better of second-year cornerback Joey Porter Jr. on a viral catch for the second straight training camp.
Pickens’ hands, body control and catch radius have never been in question. He’s pretty remarkable in those aspects, and he’s been quite good in the NFL when it comes to contested catches.
As a rookie, Pickens had 19 receptions on 28 contested-catch situations for an impressive contested-catch rate of 67.9%. That number declined in 2023 to just seven contested catches in 21 contested catch targets for a contested catch rate of 33.3%, but some of that can be attributed to poor quarterback play and ball placement.
More often than not, Pickens was making the plays that he was able to in those situations, and it created quite a few splash plays.
Now, he’s doing that again in training camp and drawing rave reviews from one of his new quarterbacks ahead of what many expect to be a big season for Pickens.
Hopefully he can take that next step and continue to develop his all-around skill set to become that elite receiver that Fields views him as. Doing so would go a long way towards putting to rest some of the justifiable WR2 concerns in the Steel City.
Check out the full interview between McFadden and Fields below.
