Two weeks ago, Mason Rudolph thought he would be throwing to George Pickens again, with whom he worked very well. Along the way, however, the Steelers elected to trade him, for various reasons. All parties agreed that it was best for both and that they needed a fresh start.
Even Rudolph echoed the “fresh start” verbiage when giving his reaction to the George Pickens trade on Kaboly + Mack. “I loved George, and I enjoyed going to work with him. He was a fun personality”, he said of his former Steelers teammate, “fun personality” being an interesting choice of words.
“I tried to feed him as much as we could when we played, because good things tended to happen when you did”, Rudolph said recalling his limited playing time with Pickens. “But I understand the way things go. There was just a need, I guess, for a fresh start”.
The Steelers drafted Pickens in the second round in 2022, by which time Rudolph was in Year 5 in Pittsburgh. He had limited starting opportunities, but through a series of misfortunes, he started the final four games of the 2023 season.
That included one game into the playoffs, and during that run, Pickens accounted for much of Rudolph’s success. In their first two games together, they combined for 326 yards on 11 catches from 15 targets with two touchdowns. Somewhat remarkable in itself is that Pickens didn’t even see a target in the season finale.
While Rudolph targeted Pickens 11 times in the Steelers’ playoff loss to Buffalo, it only resulted in five catches for 50 yards. And it didn’t help that Pickens fumbled the ball away during one crucial moment of the game. But the past is the past, and Rudolph is excited about his new targets.
“We’re moving forward with the guys we’ve got on this roster, and DK [Metcalf], he’s a pro’s pro”, he said of the post-Pickens Steelers receiving corps. “The way he takes care of his body and how inquisitive he is asking questions. Calvin [Austin III], Pat [Freiermuth], Roman [Wilson], Brandon [Johnson] has been a solid add this offseason. It’s a solid group of guys. Just looking forward start practice here in a couple weeks”.
The Steelers acquired DK Metcalf long before they traded Pickens, and Rudolph has already worked with him a fair bit. Once they handed him a $150 million contract, the jig was kind of up. Regardless of when it might happen, they didn’t see a long-term future with George Pickens.
Rudolph also isn’t the Steelers’ long-term future, but he is signed through next season. Pickens, meanwhile, is now in Dallas preparing to play with Dak Prescott. But there he will have to compete for targets with CeeDee Lamb. While Lamb might throw out pleasantries by saying that they are both “1s”, the reality is Pickens might struggle to see the type of volume that keeps him happy. Especially in a contract year.
