Coming out of Georgia, WR George Pickens had all the talent in the world. Tall and long with unreal body control, concentration, and hands. When you think of Pickens, you think of the big plays. But where he’s progressed to become a more well-rounded and better receiver is in the details. Especially his yards after catch, YAC. It’s an area of his game that’s stepped up since his rookie year, Pickens becoming more than just a vertical threat. Needing to improve after the catch was something we identified right after he was drafted.
As a rookie, Pickens was the NFL’s worst YAC receiver. As a sophomore, Pickens became top 10 after the catch. Heading into a crucial third season, Pickens continues to make strides. Examining three of his four preseason catches, it’s been on display.
Two of them came in the opener versus the Houston Texans. One curl and one screen. On both, Pickens turned up field, broke a tackle, and picked up serious YAC. Nine yards on his first catch, 13 on his second. That’s stuff he wasn’t doing his rookie year, in part because he wasn’t even asked to run these routes but also due to him not being quick enough up field.
Saturday’s 32-yard catch against the Lions displayed it in a different way. Picking up the first down on 3rd and 11 itself was huge, Pickens running a good route to get open and make the grab along the sideline. But just as impressive was what Pickens did after the catch. He could’ve easily gone out of bounds immediately following the catch and still had a 20-plus yard gain and conversion. But he stayed inbounds, turned up field, and got *nine* yards post-catch.
Here’s where Pickens made the grab.
And here’s where he was tackled.
That’s another 9 yards, nearly a first down, he picked up. He didn’t go out of bounds, he didn’t unnecessarily jump, something he’s been prone to throughout his career. Two plays later, RB Cordarrelle Patterson puts the ball in the end zone.
Compare that to his rookie year. It’s hard to find identical examples or situations but two moments stick out. Back half of the blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills. Against off coverage, Pickens makes the uncontested grab but is slow to get up field. Dancing around, horizontal, he costs himself extra yards. Eventually he gets up field and muscles his way forward, but he wasn’t “quick to the tuck,” as former Steelers WRs Coach Scottie Montgomery would say. He’s not getting up field post-catch.
Here is an even better example against Miami later in the year. Pickens runs a speed out to the sideline. It’s a catch along the sideline and there’s not a ton of runway but Pickens calmly goes out of bounds. It’s a first down, not a bad play, but there was no attempt to turn and get up field to pick up all the green grass in front.
Compare that to yesterday’s Lions game. Pickens could’ve gone out of bounds again, but he turned up field. Which is exactly how they repped it in training camp. That’s taking a drill to the tape. In camp, WRs coach Zach Azzanni would have receivers run routes on air and remind/get on guys to “get vertical” after every catch. Even if the pass took them out of bounds, the coaching point remained the same. Get up field, finish the play. Pickens is showing that.
Here’s a compilation of all the above examples, the similar plays played next to each other. You can see the difference.
Winning vertically remains Pickens’ calling card. It’s the lead into his highlights. But he has so much more potential than that. Being more versatile, aligning all over the field, improving his YAC, becoming a better route runner (that part remains a work in progress but there’s movement here). If he continues, Pickens become a top-10 receiver in football. Potentially as soon as by the end of this season.
