Former NFL DL Confused at How Steelers Use George Pickens

Former NFL defensive lineman Chris Long hopes to see more of George Pickens in the Steelers’ offense. While Pickens became the top receiver on the Steelers with Diontae Johnson out, he got fed a lot of targets, too. Over the four games without Johnson, Pickens received 33 targets, by far the most out of any receiver on the Steelers. However, Long still does not believe that is enough.

On his podcast, Green Light With Chris Long, Long explained why George Pickens needs even more work. For him, he would test defensive backs every single possession on jump balls because Pickens is so proficient at them.

“I’d like to see more of Pickens in general,” Long said, “I say it every week, I would take one back shoulder shot at him every possession. Because every time you do it, for two and a half seconds, everyone is looking around for flags. I would take the upside. It’s like playing Moneyball…, my advice for the Steelers is to use George Pickens better. Him and Garrett Wilson need help on their career because I think the ceiling on this kid’s career is so high.”

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 it’s how Pickens has won this year that makes this encouraging. On Sunday, he won through contested catches and vertical stemming. Yer this year, he has won through route running (yes, he can separate), YAC, and has created magnetism for other players. Whenever the first defense backed off to dare go against the bracketing strategy employed by other teams, Pickens made them pay. That’s what good players do. Pickens has arrived.