Player: WR George Pickens
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: While still occasionally prone to the ridiculous, George Pickens is seeing the most consistent production of his career. He put up 89 yards on a career-high eight catches on Sunday, clearly building a rapport with Russell Wilson.
For the first time in his career, Steelers WR George Pickens had put up 60-plus yards in four consecutive games. That just happens to coincide with the four games started by QB Russell Wilson. In fact, Pickens never produced 60-plus yards in even three consecutive games before.
Over the past four weeks since Russell Wilson entered the lineup, Pickens has 22 receptions on 33 targets for 365 yards and two touchdowns. Projected over a full season, that translates to 94 receptions for 1,551 yards and eight touchdowns. And considering some of the near misses he has had in the end zone, the potential for those numbers to trend upward is good.
Against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, George Pickens saw a career-high 12 targets, coming down with eight of them, also the highest mark of his career. While they only produced 89 yards, none finishing in the end zone, he continued to produce highlights.
In particular, Russell Wilson found him again on a deep ball, a 37-yard connection that set up one of Chris Boswell’s six field goals. Of the 59 yards the Steelers traversed on that drive, George Pickens accounted for 54. A caveat, though: the Steelers also lost 20 yards via penalty thanks to two Broderick Jones holding calls.
As alluded to above, Pickens remains vulnerable to the ridiculous. Not only does he persist in his tendency to jump unnecessarily during a run after the catch, he just…does things. Like when he robbed himself of a five-yard catch late in the first half because he leaped out of bounds before getting both feet down.
If Pickens can simply stop getting in his own way and hone the fine details, there is no question he could be one of the NFL’s elite wide receivers. As it is, he is often very good with occasional elite highlights intermixed with comedic missteps (literally).
As the season progresses, Steelers players’ stocks rise and fall. The nature of the evaluation differs with the time of year, with in-season considerations being more often short-term. Considerations in the offseason often have broader implications, particularly when players lose their jobs, or the team signs someone. This time of year is full of transactions, whether minor or major.
A bad game, a new contract, an injury, a promotion—any number of things affect a player’s value. Think of it as a stock on the market, based on speculation. You’ll feel better about a player after a good game, or worse after a bad one. Some stock updates are minor, while others are likely to be quite drastic, so bear in mind the degree. I’ll do my best to explain the nature of that in the reasoning section of each column.
