Getty George Pickens celebrates a touchdown.
George Pickens is his name, and making impossible catches is his game. So when he recently was compared to an ex-receiver who failed to embody the Pittsburgh Steelers way, it raised eyebrows.
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio sees a potential parallel looming between Pickens and ex-Steelers receiver Chase Claypool. Pickens is heading into his second year, a time in Claypool’s career where Florio feels he was wasted in Pittsburgh’s offense.
“With Claypool, we have to start asking, do they know how to use, do they know how to develop, do they know how to cultivate a talent like that, or is it wasted in the Pittsburgh offense? That’s why it’s more of a pressing question with Pickens.”
Sure, Claypool showed flashes his rookie season — enough to believe that he could be Pittsburgh’s future at receiver. But in his second year, he regressed, and in his third, was jettisoned to the Chicago Bears for what turned out to be a primo draft pick.
Undoubtedly one trait that attracted Mike Tomlin and the Steelers to Claypool was his stature. At 6-foot-4, 238-pound frame, he was wicked fast for his size, ranking seventh among wide receivers at the 2020 NFL Combine with a 4.42 official 40-yard dash time.
According to NFL Research, he was one of only two wideouts to measure 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds or bigger and have run a sub-4.45 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine since 2003. The other? Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson. Almost immediately after being drafted by Pittsburgh, he was appointed with the moniker “Mapletron” in reference to his Canadian roots and Johnson’s Megatron nickname.
But Claypool never consistently used size and speed to his advantage against defenders at the pro level — at least not with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Will the same fate befall Pickens? That’s Florio’s concern (and Steelers fans, too). With a loaded receiver room, it’s not a stretch to wonder if the former Georgia star be vocal about ball distribution.
“Get it to George Pickens. That is what I want to see. I’ve seen enough from George Pickens to put him in the category of if he is covered, then he is still not covered. You have to have two guys on Pickens before I’m gonna consider not throwing it to him and even then there’s a chance he’s still gonna go get it.”
If he continues this trajectory, his future could look more like Antonio Brown than Claypool. He’s already looking like the most electrifying receiver since Brown donned the Black and Gold.
Kenny Pickett Needs to Get the Ball to George Pickens
The offensive game plan is what it is, but it’s ultimately up to quarterback Kenny Pickett to get the ball to George Pickens. The two have a chemistry that started to flourish in 2022 and it appears, given their connection for a score in Week 1 of the preseason, that it’s only gotten stronger.
According to Pro Football Focus, Pickett had near-perfect numbers when targeting Pickens last season. Pittsburgh’s only two explosive touchdowns (they ranked last in the league) were thrown by Pickett to Pickens.
“I want to see if Pickett is willing but you got to make those decisions,” Florio said. “You’re processing a lot of things. I’d like to throw to the guy who’s open. I think he needs to redefine what open means with George Pickens — open means covered by one guy.”
Offensive coordinator Matt Canada agrees. “If somebody covers him one-on-one, we feel good about the odds.”
Pickens had the third-most receptions on deep passing targets last season, catching 16 passes of 20+ air yards. Only Kansas City Chiefs‘ Tyreek Hill (19) and Minnesota Vikings‘ Justin Jefferson (17) had more, but he did it on fewer deep targets (30).
Fifty-two receptions on 84 targets resulted in a 61.9 percent catch rate, according to Pro Football Reference. As a rookie, he caught 68 percent of contested catches, more than Philadelphia Eagles‘ A.J. Brown and Seattle Seahawks‘ D.K. Metcalf. According to Pro Football Focus, Pickens’ 18 contested catches this season were the most ever charged by a rookie in a single season.
George Pickens has 18 contested catches this season.
The MOST PFF has ever charted by a rookie in a single season (2016-present).
Steelers WR George Pickens Improving Critical Aspects of His Game
But what’s most important that Pickens improve upon in his second season is yards after catch, often referred to as YAC or RAC (run after catch), of which he only logged 104. The receivers with the best YAC in 2022 were actually running backs. For comparison, Chargers’ Austin Ekeler (863) had the most, and number 20 was Bengals’ Joe Mixon (464). It’s easy to see why this was a significant focus this offseason for Pickens.
“That’s one of the things we’ve been trying to work on,” Pickens told All Steelers. “Getting those types of plays (slant) in. Trying to get that RAC.”
The process has been one step at a time for Pickett and Pickens.
“He showed one part of his game last year,” said receivers coach Frisman Jackson. “We’re working and improving the other parts of his game. We’re hoping to add to his repertoire. Last year, he showed the vertical part of his game. He has a lot more to his game. Hopefully, this year we can get him doing a bunch more of what he’s capable of doing. We gotta get him to be better after the catch. He’s gotta be able to take a slant and go 60 (yards) with it.”
All of this goes hand-in-hand with route running, another aspect of his game he’s been working on. No player had more straightforward go routes in 2022 and only two players produced more big plays per opportunity. But he needs to incorporate more routes than just the go if he wants to be elite.
“He’s definitely worked on his routes,” Pickett said in an August 1 press conference. “The full route tree he has, the crispness with his routes. He’s locked in mentally. He’s doing a good job learning the system and playing different spots, so we can move him around more, which is great.”
“Now, we’ve put together a nice route package for him,” Pickett said on the Green Light with Chris Long podcast. “He continues to work on his game and we work on our continuity together. I’m really excited to see what he does heading into year two.”
So are we, Kenny. So are we.