Pittsburgh Steelers WR George Pickens is no stranger to go routes, but he sees more sophistication in Arthur Smith’s scheme. The new Steelers offensive coordinator plans to make the deep ball a staple of the offense.
His predecessor, Matt Canada, also liked to feature the deep ball, but Pickens sees the difference between the two. He spoke on that subject with reporters on Wednesday, after the Steelers’ final open practice, via the team’s website.
“The scheme of it is great. I’d probably say a lot of the schemed deep balls”, Pickens said of Smith’s plan for deep balls. “You guys remember all last year I was running only ‘go, so I was running deep balls last year too. But scheme-wise, I feel like it’s a way better scheme, vertically”.
A 2022 second-round pick, George Pickens is actually a premier deep-ball receiver. He led the NFL in yards per reception (18.1) last year, but he also led in percentage of vertical routes run. Arthur Smith intends to put that to good use this year, Pickens saying, “I think we want to go vertically”.
The deep ball, of course, also suits the skill sets of QBs Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, who recently went throw for throw at the end of training camp. Pickens is a popular target for every quarterback on the roster, though, including Kyle Allen and John Rhys Plumlee.
Even if he believes Smith is scheming the deep ball better, though, Pickens knows the burden is still on him. “Defense is still gonna play man in coverage, so you’re still gonna have to beat a guy one-on one”, he said. “But the scheme is, for sure, prolific vertically”.
George Pickens isn’t the only deep threat at Arthur Smith’s disposal, though. They also have Calvin Austin III and his 72-yard-touchdown ability, which he showed last year. While he is squarely inside the roster bubble, Scotty Miller and Quez Watkins have more work to do.
“It’s kind of hard for me to speak because I’ve always been going vertical since I got here” Pickens said. “But as far as all the plays and all the guys around, I’ll probably say more dynamic as far as, we can run a little bit at QB now.”
While Smith is receiving all kinds of love, Pickens is far from the first person to knock Matt Canada’s schemes. Even a number of current players have made unfavorable comparisons, Austin recently saying that he didn’t show half of what he can do in Canada’s scheme.
Of course, the best plan in the world doesn’t guarantee success. Arthur Smith still needs George Pickens and Russell Wilson and company to run his plays and run them well. We really won’t know how this all comes together until we hit the regular season, the quarterback position being the biggest variable hanging over the Steelers’ heads.
