Steelers inside the ropes: George Pickens’ skillset keeps shining in camp setting

Late Friday morning, Chase Claypool gushed about rookie wide receiver George Pickens, proclaiming he’d be one of the NFL’s best rookie wide receivers this year.

A few hours later on Chuck Noll Field at Saint Vincent, Pickens provided a third day’s worth of evidence to support Claypool’s claim.

Pickens again impressed during the third Pittsburgh Steelers’ training-camp practice, showing off an intriguing combination of straight-line speed, shiftiness and ball skills while making multiple catches. It didn’t take the 6-foot-3 Pickens long to make an impression, catching the second throw of the day in 11-on-11 play, out-maneuvering cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon for a ball thrown by Mitch Trubisky toward the right sideline, then juking multiple defenders in the open field for a long gain.

Pickens, a second-round pick out of Georgia, later on in practice had another long gain when Trubisky found him in a soft spot in the defense’s zone.

• Trubisky started off with an 0-for-4 effort in reps in the seven shots 2-point conversion drill that opens the team portion of practice: A throw in the end zone for Zach Gentry was batted away by Terrell Edmunds, a play was blown up by a “sack” by T.J. Watt, Trubisky missed Anthony Miller on a throw with Witherspoon in coverage, and a throw will velocity zoomed past the hands of tight end Kevin Rader while Damontae Kazee was up on him.
• Mason Rudolph followed by directing scores on two of the three seven shots snaps, each of which featured second-teamers. The “touchdowns” went on a swing pass to running back Jeremy McNichols and a flip right at the goal line to Steven Sims. The final snap was a pass intended for Tyler Vaughns that was short and batted down by rookie linebacker Mark Robinson.
• Kenny Pickett again was not given a snap in seven shots — and he again appeared to struggle during other team drills. After throwing an interception on his final snap of the first day of camp and again on the first snap of the second day, Pickett’s first pass in 11-on-11 on Day 3 probably deserved to be picked off, but Pickett was spared the indignity when defensive back Linden Stephens was not looking at the ball when it struck him while he had tight end Jace Sternberger blanketed in coverage.
• Pickett went 0-for-3 passing on his first three reps; on the fourth, he scrambled left and was “sacked” by rookie linebacker Tyree Johnson.
• With one notable exception, for the remainder of practice, Pickett kept almost all of his throws short, dumping off to running backs or tight ends, or bubble screens to receivers. On his penultimate throw of the day, his designed quick screen was batted down by rookie defensive lineman DeMarvin Leal.
• The one time Pickett did choose to throw downfield Friday, he tossed a pretty ball – but it fell incomplete. Miles Boykin had a step on James Pierre on a go route down the left sideline, and Pickett’s throw appeared on target to hit him in stride. But Boykin inexplicably stutter-stepped and almost stopped, and the ball fell incomplete. Later on in practice an almost-identical play developed — this time with Rudolph at quarterback — when Boykin had a step on a defender down the left sideline and the ball was well-thrown. This time, it hit Boykin in the hands, and he could not hold on.
• Gentry’s development continues to pop in camp. Arguably the prettiest completed pass was when Trubisky delivered a laser of a high ball to the 6-foot-8 Gentry, who reached up to nab it despite tight coverage from Myles Jack and Edmunds.

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