The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted wide receiver George Pickens in the second round of 2022 NFL Draft. He immediately became a fan favorite due to his quirky nature and quick hands.
Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation (Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO)
Steelers second-year wide receiver George Pickens is expected to take a big leap in year two but will need Matt Canada to devise a plan that maximizes his talent for that to happen.
Pickens became a favorite target of the rookie quarterback, Kenny Pickett, that entered the NFL with him. The Pickett to Pickens pass became something fans were hoping to see since Pickens has a way of winning contested catches.
Now former Steelers offensive lineman, Ramon Foster, and his podcast co-host, Dejan Kovacevic, are once again discussing Pickens' potential on their show. The podcast, The Ramon Foster Show, airs on DK Pittsburgh Sports several times a week. Kovacevic has been a sports reporter in Pittsburgh for decades and the two discuss Steelers and NFL in general, both past and present.
Does Steelers' George Pickens Remind You Of Anybody?
On a recent episode of the show, Kovacevic points out that no one ran more individual go routes in the NFL than Pickens did last season. Both Foster and Kovacevic note that the Steelers' play-calling last season, thanks to Matt Canada (regardless of the reason), did not justify him having so many go routes when they were not trying to place the ball in his hands. However, Foster says that most people take issue with Pickens' route running, but where he really shines is with his hands and his late separation.
"A lot of people are gonna make a fuss about his route running. But I was having a conversation about DeAndre Hopkins, a lot of people that talk about him say, 'Don't look at his route running,' because it's not the greatest, but if you just throw the ball up to a guy like that, he's gonna go get it."
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Receiver DeAndre Hopkins has been selected to 5 Pro Bowls during his career.
That begs the question, do we have a guy, in Pickens, who can play like DeAndre Hopkins already in Pittsburgh? Foster seems to think so. He says that Steelers fans have to stop trying to cram every receiver into the Antonio Brown box and compare all route running to his.
"DeAndre Hopkins is the type of guy whose route running is never going to be sharp like Antonio Brown, like Emmanuel Sanders. You willing to live that life? Because DeAndre Hopkins got you three All-Pros and Pro Bowls too."
Kovacevic agrees saying that from his perspective, it boils down to a lack of faith in Pickett. OTAs were recently going on and Kovacevic was there to watch. He is not allowed to share any specifics about plays that he saw happening, but he is able to speak in some general or hypothetical terms.
He said that hypothetically in OTAs, there have been a lot more of those routes practiced. And that if there were a lot more of those routes practiced that Pickett just might have shown people what he is capable of.
Photo Credit: Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation (Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO)
Steelers quarterback, Kenny Pickett (#8) throws a deep ball down the sidelines while warming up for a 2022 matchup.
"I understand, it's OTAs," says Kovacevic. "Nobody's pressuring him or whatever, but the biggest challenge for the quarterback is the timing and is to get the thing there. Kenny does get it there."
Kovacevic has also been sharing lately that Mike Tomczak has been at OTAs. Tomczak was the Steelers' quarterback in the mid to late 90s. He worked as an offensive coordinator in the 2010s for the now-defunct Pittsburgh Power Arena League team. He now coaches at Youngstown State. But like the majority of Steelers vets, he comes back to help out, give advice, lend an ear, and show support. Kovacevic has shared that Tomczak is impressed by what he sees in Pickett.
"Mike Tomczak, a former Steelers quarterback, was watching practice with me the other day and he said, 'The arm is there.' I'm going to take the guy's word who had 16,000 passing yards, and 88 career touchdowns. He'll know the difference."
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Mike Tomczak played for the Steelers during much of the 90s as both a backup and a starter.
It sounds like Pickett and Pickens have been solidifying that on-field relationship during the offseason with Pickett working on what he needs to get those go routes to be more touchdown-producing. While you don't want to waste a ton of time comparing players to other players, it would give Pickens the chance to develop into a receiver more like Hopkins.
What do you think about what Foster and Kovacevic are saying? Does Pickens have that kind of potential? Does the fact that he doesn't run the crispest routes get made up for by his incredible hands? Click to comment below!
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