George Pickens Leads NFL in Telling Stat Since 2022

George Pickens continues to prove that he is taking the next step as a player in the NFL. Against the Ravens, he went off for 130 yards and a touchdown while helping power the Steelers to a 17-10 win in a massive game for divisional control. However, how he racked up those yards continued to be made familiar.

Next Gen Stats revealed some telling stats about Pickens and how he wins in the NFL, though he is starting to win in other ways in his second year. Pickens was just 1.8 yards from the sideline on the touchdown before making the catch. But that’s not new for him. Since entering the NFL, Pickens has the most receiving yards on the sideline in the NFL, and it’s not close. He has 327 receiving yards on those sideline targets since the start of 2022. The second closest receiver is Stefon Diggs, with 198. That’s how vast the gap between the two players is, and it’s because of the route tree that Pickens has played. He’s run an absurd amount of go routes, with most of the other routes working off that being curls and comebacks.

This year, they have expanded their route tree for George Pickens. He can separate over the middle and beat cornerbacks even with inside leverage. But on Sunday, they turned back the clock. Pickens needed slight separation to win deep and averaged the lowest separation per target in the NFL last week with just 1.1 yards of separation on average. The Ravens played up on him, too, not allowing him to get back behind him, averaging only 3.4 yards of cushion for the game.

It tells you that Pickens has a clear trump card, and the Steelers can go to that trump card if the opponent decides to play a lot of single coverage against them. However, he can separate when he does not run go routes. Pickens is starting to shatter all the conceptions around his game, most related to his route tree. Matt Canada will now have to continue to use Pickens in the best manner possible after he has shown versatilty in his game. With Diontae Johnson back, Pickens might have the rocket strapped to his back.