We’re past the halfway point of the 2024 regular season, and the Pittsburgh Steelers have outperformed many expectations heading into the year, sitting at 8-3 with six games to go. They’re squarely in the playoff race and lead the AFC North standings after beating the Baltimore Ravens two weeks ago, aided by an improved offense with George Pickens leading the charge.
The offense has been a bit of Jekyll and Hyde for Pittsburgh. After a slow start, they went on a four-game win streak, scoring no less than 26 points with two games above 30. Since then, the offense has come back down to earth, posting 18 points in a win against Baltimore and 19 points in a loss to Cleveland.
After trading Diontae Johnson in March, Pickens became the clear-cut No. 1 receiver. Through 11 games, Pickens has represented himself well from a statistical perspective, ranking sixth in the league with 776 receiving yards on 52 receptions (84 targets), yet he only has two touchdowns on the year.
From just analyzing the stats, Pickens has delivered up to this point on the season, more than doubling the next pass-catcher in targets (TE Pat Freiermuth with 40) and yards (WR Calvin Austin III & Freiermuth with 354). He’s also had to deal with a quarterback change, going from Justin Fields, where he had two games with 70-plus receiving yards, to Russell Wilson, who he’s had over 70 receiving yards in four of their five games together.
Here is his first connection with Wilson, a red zone fade that Pickens reaches back and snags. It’s the type of catch he’s better than most at making. Technically, he does a nice job with his release to stack the corner off the line, too.
Still, Pickens’ season so far still has us wanting more as he flashes that talent and ability to take over games, but it hasn’t been as consistent as we’d like to see it. Part of that has to do with Pittsburgh’s struggles as an offense overall, but also, part of the blame can fall back on Pickens and his antics. He most recently got into a scuffle with Browns CB Greg Newsome III at the end of last Thursday’s game while calling Cleveland a bad team and chalking up the loss due to the inclement weather.
Pickens has often been criticized for his work ethic as well, recently getting mentioned by former NFL safety Rodney Harrison saying he has someone on the inside informing him that he doesn’t show up on time to meetings and that his maturity needs to improve to reach that tantalizing ceiling he has.
Pickens is in year three of his four-year rookie contract, and Pittsburgh will likely have to decide this offseason whether to extend Pickens and give him a big-money deal or to go through the final year of his contract and let him test free agency. Either way you look at it, it’s truly a gamble, as Pickens’ maturity and lack of consistent play suggest he may not warrant WR1 money with a large guarantee.
However, the talent is undeniable, and simply letting Pickens walk out the door without fetching something in return for him could be a huge mistake as Pickens is still just 23 years old with plenty of room to build off what he already brings to the table. Plays like this touchdown grab against Washington simply can’t be matched.
Overall, it would be fair to say that George Pickens has met expectations at this point of the season, but there is still plenty of room to improve. Hopefully, with Russell Wilson at the helm, Pickens can continue to put up consistent numbers. He should see his scoring opportunities increase as Pittsburgh’s offense looks to get things worked out after a slow last two games.
It’s fair to say that George Pickens is one of, if not the most polarizing players on Pittsburgh’s roster. Luckily for Pittsburgh, they still have six regular season games and any postseason action before deciding what they want to do with their talented yet erratic wideout this offseason.
