The Pittsburgh Steelers have one of the most talented but mercurial wide receivers in the league with third-year rising star George Pickens. There was a lot of pressure on him entering the season after the Steelers traded Diontae Johnson in the offseason. His stats haven’t lived up to the elevated expectations yet, but that isn’t stopping him from dubbing himself a top five wide receiver in the NFL.
Pickens appeared on FS1’s The Facility this morning, and he was asked where he views himself in the NFL WR pecking order.
“I definitely feel like, you know, me averaging 18.1 [yards per reception] last season, most definitely in, what is it, Year 3? Yeah, not five, six, seven, eight, or nine. So I definitely feel like I’m top five, top three just off of, I just got here,” Pickens said. “I definitely think I’m top five, if not better. Some guys, certain situations are better for certain receivers. That’s really the most I can say.”
Certainly off numbers alone, Pickens wouldn’t qualify for that top-five conversation, let alone top three. But just watching him play, when he is at his best, you can see all the potential to achieve those lofty titles.
Despite the passing game essentially running solely through Pickens in Pittsburgh this season, his stats are on pace for a slight regression from 2023. He is on pace for 73.7 receptions, 1,028 receiving yards and zero touchdowns. That is just based on his current numbers, so the pace can and obviously will change, but it has been a slower start than expected.
When asked what needs to happen for Pickens to prove to the world that he is top five, he pointed to schematics.
“I probably say schematically is the big thing in football,” Pickens said. “That’s how you get Amon-Ra St. Brown, slot merchants, that’s schematically getting fed the ball. When it comes to that, I ain’t playing QB, o-line, and defense all at once. So schematically, that’s probably the biggest thing in that way for me to really show the world a bigger platform over my game style.”
After playing two seasons in Matt Canada’s offensive system, Pickens is now playing under OC Arthur Smith. He is best known for running the ball and featuring tight ends. Against the Dallas Cowboys, for example, Pickens played the lowest snap-count total of his career, which was described by Smith as an attempt to maximize certain personnel groupings. He was in for all of the 11 personnel snaps with three receivers on the field, but he wasn’t in as much during the 12- and 13-personnel packages.
That changed in Week 6 against the Las Vegas Raiders, with Pickens playing the most snaps of the receiver group. He hasn’t had the most productive last couple weeks, but he was flashing great stuff over the first four games of the season, even if some of it was negated by penalties.
In total, Pickens has played 211 snaps out wide this season compared to 76 in the slot. That is 26.4 percent of his snaps in the slot compared to 16.8 percent last season. The Steelers are moving him around a bit more and giving him different ways to succeed. I think the success is coming as the offense continues to jell with the new quarterbacks, the new offensive coordinator, and the young offensive line.
