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Steelers rookie WR Pickens does his part in offense, remains patient
Anyone who saw George Pickens shine during training camp expected Pickens would be scoring touchdowns during the season.
But could anybody have predicted his second NFL touchdown would come not on a fly route, not a contested catch, not a particularly acrobatic play but on a run between the tackles?
That’s how Pickens got into the end zone during the Steelers’ 20-10 victory against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.
“Literally, the last time I did like the thing I did (Sunday) was Little League, probably,” Pickens said of his 1-yard score during the first quarter. “That was the last time I ran between the tackles in that linebacker area.
“And that’s probably the last time I’m gonna do that, as well.”
George Pickens picks up the rushing TD on a jet sweep to give the Steelers (-1) a 7-0 lead ????Pickens +1200 to score the first touchdown ✅pic.twitter.com/RSNv4BSxqq
— BetMGM ???? (@BetMGM) November 13, 2022
Pickens chuckled. At 6-foot-3, 200 pounds with 4.4 speed, he’ll be utilized much more on the outside and when thrown the ball. But in the Steelers’ first game since the trade of Chase Claypool, Pickens perhaps was given a portion of Claypool’s former roles.
Claypool led Steelers wide receivers in carries with eight, and Pickens had just one before Sunday. In addition to his touchdown run, Pickens also had a 22-yard carry on a more traditional jet sweep-style play.
“I wasn’t really expecting running the ball, but that was fast, quick play, quick tempo,” Pickens said of his touchdown, which came on a no-huddle snap. “So … it was a real in-the-moment thing. I am glad it happened.”
Pickens repeatedly talked about how much fun he and his teammates had in winning for only the second time over a span of more than two months.
“It felt good,” he said of getting into the end zone for the first time since a 7-yard score Oct. 23 at Miami. “I won’t lie to you. It felt good.”
George Pickens from postgame on his TD vs. the Saints in Sunday’s win pic.twitter.com/p6toSGyjkf— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) November 15, 2022
Fans and other observers portended a big game for Pickens because it was his first NFL game as no worse than a WR2. The Steelers’ second-round pick, Pickens entered the season alongside the established veteran duo of Claypool and Diontae Johnson on the WR depth chart.
That meant that despite obvious prodigious talent, Pickens’ production was middling over the first half of his first season: 43 targets, 26 catches, 338 receiving yards, one touchdown and one carry in eight games.
Pickens was thrown to twice over the first three snaps against the Saints — the first was incomplete, the next he caught for 14 yards on third-and-6 — but aside from the touchdown run, Pickens would touch the ball just twice more the remainder of the game.
Pickens said his role the gameplan leading into the New Orleans game (after the Claypool trade), from his perspective, wasn’t any different.
Of the 26 passes quarterback Kenny Pickett aimed at an intended receiver Sunday, almost half (12) went to Johnson or tight end Pat Freiermuth.
“I anticipated that,” Pickens said. “Missing pieces, it’s just like a puzzle. How do you fit yourself in there? (But) I really have been doing the same thing that I have been doing the whole time.”
Seemingly since the first week of camp, when onlookers at Chuck Noll Field were repeatedly wowed by Pickens’ skills, fans have been longing — and waiting — for his breakout game. Five touches for 55 yards doesn’t exactly qualify, even if the 1-yard TD run up the middle was part of that.
Still, teammates expect Pickens time to come. Last year, Freiermuth was taken 55th overall, just three spots after Pickens went in the following draft. Freiermuth had 22 catches and two touchdowns over his first seven games until his breakout two-touchdown game came in November.
Freiermuth finished with 38 catches and five touchdowns over his final nine games. He envisions a similar finish to the rookie year for Pickens.
“George, obviously, is more comfortable in the offense, having a bunch of games under his belt,” Freiermuth said. “He’s executing at a high level right now. We have seen growth from … (Pickens). He’s definitely understanding the offense more, and you can see he’s playing faster out there.”
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